■  '  :  ■ '  \>\ 

"L  I  5  R_A  FLY 

OF   THE 
UN  IVLRSITY 
Of    ILLINOIS 

940.91319 
M54a 


ILL.  HIST.  SURVEY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/americanhistoricOOmere 


>^- 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ACTIVITIES 
DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR 


EDITED  BY 

NI^VTON  D.  MERENESS 


Reprinted  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association 
for  1919,  Volume  I,  pages  137-294 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1923 


DEC  U  1*6 

rmuwots 


Hist,   SuRvey 

M  54  «, 


IV.  AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD 

WAR. 


Edited  by  NEWTON  D.  MERENESS. 


- 

- 


137 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE 
WORLD  WAR. 


INTRODUCTION. 

A  distinguished  American  educator,  writing  on  the  subject  of 
scholarship  during  the  World  War,  states  that  scholars  in  the  human 
sciences  "did  not  dominate  the  situation"  as  did  scholars  in  the 
physical  sciences;  that  they,  "with  distinguished  exceptions,  per- 
mitted the  man  in  the  street  or  the  man  in  the  editor's  chair,  or  in 
Congress,  or  in  the  Cabinet,  to  proclaim  his  amateur  pronouncement 
and  to  get  away  with  it.  The  crises  for  the  future,"  he  warns,  "  will 
have  to  do  with  problems  of  human  conduct  rather  than  of  the  control 
of  physical  things ;  and  as  these  crises  come  our  scholars  in  human 
relations  should  be  more  ready  to  mobilize."  1 

The  primary  purpose  of  this  survey  of  historical  activities  during 
the  war  has  been  the  assembly  of  facts  necessary  to  a  stimulating 
comparison  of  actions  and  achievements  in  the  field  of  history 
throughout  the  country,  and  particularly  to  draw  more  attention  to 
the  fact  that  in  a  crisis  such  as  the  recent  one  it  may  be  even  more 
important  that  historical  scholarship  should  be  mobilized  for  the 
winning  of  a  war  than  for  the  doing  of  the  things  necessary  to  a 
history  of  that  war. 

Scholarship  in  the  field  of  history  is  too  unlike  scholarship  in  the 
physical  sciences  for  close  comparison.     But  as  for  the  measure  of 
mobilization  of  history  men  in  the  late  war,  a  brief  summary  dis- 
closes that  shortly  after  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war 
the  leaders  of  the  historical  profession  established  a  National  Board 
for  Historical    Service,   primarily   for  the   purpose   of  mobilizing 
j  historical  scholarship  for  the  education  of  the  public  with  regard  to 
^the  issues  of  the  war;  that  a  good  measure  of  the  more  successful 
fo  operations  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  were  under  the 
^direction  of  a  historian;  that  a  number  of  history  teachers  contrib- 
uted to  the  war  information  series  issued  by  that  committee;  that 
many  were  among  its  "  four-minute  "  speakers.    When  the  General 
oj  Staff  Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Training  began  sending 
j,  soldiers  to  colleges  for  vocational  instruction  and  established  the 
war  aims  course,  two  of  the  four  inspectors  of  that  work  for  the 
^entire  country  were  history  men.    Later  5  of  the  12  division  direc- 
ts tors  of  the  war  issues  course  were  history  men.    In  the  negotiation 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  the  services  rendered  by  American  historians 
T  were,  perhaps,  quite  as  effective  as  those  rendered  by  the  diplomatists. 

»F.  P.  Keppel  "  Scholarship  in  War,"  Columbia  University  Quarterly,  July,  1919. 

139 


140  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

In  many  of  the  States  there  was  during  the  war  a  history  committee 
of  the  council  of  defense,  and  in  most  of  them  there  is  now  a 
war-records  or  a  war-history  commission  for  the  collection  and 
preservation  of  war  records  and  for  the  preparation  of  a  history 
of  the  States'  participation  in  the  war. 

The  reports  by  States,  which  comprise  the  greater  portion  of  this 
paper,  were,  with  few  exceptions,  furnished  by  directors  or  secre- 
taries of  these  commissions  in  response  to  an  appeal  contained  in  the 
following  letter: 

1140  Woodward  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  January  28,  1920. 
Wayne  E.  Stevens,  Secretary, 

War  Records  Section, 

Illinois  State  Historical  Library, 

State  Capitol,  Springfield,  III. 

Dear  Dr.  Stevens  :  The  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,  at  Its  last 
meeting  in  Washington,  requested  Mr.  Leland,  its  secretary,  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  preparation  of  an  account  of  historical  activities  in  the  United 
States  during  the  years  1917,  1918,  and  1919,  that  were  undertaken  in  conse- 
quence of  the  war,  and  for  the  publication  of  that  account  in  the  Annual  Re- 
port of  the  American  Historical  Association. 

Mr.  Leland  has  asked  me  to  assist  in  this  matter,  and  in  response  I  am  seek- 
ing the  necessary  cooperation  in  every  State  in  the  Union.  May  I  ask,  then, 
that  you  be  so  good  as  to  furnish  us  with  the  account  for  the  State  of  Illinois? 
That  there  may  be  some  measure  of  uniformity  in  the  accounts  from  the  several 
States  I  have  prepared  the  following  outline : 

1.  Historical  research  and  the  production  of  books  for  increasing  the  fund 
of  historical  knowledge  regarding  questions  pertaining  to  the  war. 

2.  The  diffusion  of  historical  information  necessary  to  an  enlightened  public 
opinion  regarding  the  issues  of  the  war : 

(a)  By  the  contribution  of  articles  for  publication  in  newspapers  and 
periodicals. 

(o)  By  promoting  the  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  containing  im- 
portant historical  information. 

(c)  By  lectures. 

(d)  By  teaching  in  schools  and  colleges. 

3.  Cooperation  with  the  State  council  of  defense,  cooperation  with  the  Na- 
tional Board  for  Historical  Service,  cooperation  with  the  National  Government 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  in  the  negotiation  of  peace. 

4.  Preparation  during  the  progress  of  the  war  oi  histories  of  the  organization 
and  operation  of  different  branches  of  war  service;  for  example,  State  and 
county  food  administrations. 

5.  The  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records. 

6.  Preparation  for  an  early  history  of  the  State's  participation  in  the  war. 
Under  this  head  it  may  be  quite  worth  while  in  some  States  to  contrast  the 
so-called  county  history,  produced  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  the 
largest  possible  sum  of  money  from  the  county,  with  the  genuine  county  history 
prepared  by  a  person  with  some  historical  training  and  for  a  much  lower  price. 

The  maximum  space  allotted  in  the  report  for  the  entire  account,  State  and 
national,  is  about  200  pages. 

Any  suggestions  from  you  for  improving  this  outline  will  be  most  heartily 
appreciated.    With  keen  interest  in  the  subject  and  a  justifiable  measure  of 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  141 

State  pride,  who  will  say  that  we  can  not  make  this  project  a  large  success 
for  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,  for  the  American  Historical 
Association,  and  for  the  historical  interests  of  every  State  in  the  Union?  Will 
it  be  convenient  for  you  to  have  the  account  for  your  State  prepared  by  the 
1st  of  April? 

Very  truly,  yours, 

Newton  D.  Mebeness. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3  of  the  outline  relate  to  con- 
tributions toward  the  winning  of  the  war,  and  Nos.  4,  5,  and  6  relate 
to  the  collection  and  preservation  of  a  record  of  the  struggle.  On 
the  latter  head  an  appeal  was  also  made  to  historical  branches  of 
the  Federal  Government  and  to  a  few  sectarian  organizations.  The 
historical  sketch  of  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  is  by 
Mr.  Leland,  its  secretary,  and  the  director  of  this  project  for  a 
survey  of  war-time  historical  activities- 

From  some  States  repeated  appeals  for  a  report  have  brought  no 
response,  and  from  others  not  all  was  reported  that  was  desired. 
The  majority,  however,  responded  graciously  and  effectively,  and  the 
editor  is  under  lasting  obligations  to  all  who  have  participated  in 
this  cooperative  performance. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT. 

By  Oliveb  L.  Spatjiding,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  General  Staff,  Chief  Historical 

Branch. 

For  several  years  before  the  recent  war  interest  in  military  history 
had  been  steadily  increasing  among  officers  of  the  Army,  and  its 
importance  had  come  to  be  more  fully  realized  than  before.  This 
interest  was  greatly  stimulated  by  the  establishment  of  well-planned 
historical  courses  at  the  service  schools,  but  the  evolution  had  not  yet 
reached  the  stage  of  developing  a  special  historical  organ  when  the 
war  began. 

In  the  spring  of  1918  this  organ  made  its  appearance  in  the  form 
of  the  historical  branch,  war  plans  division,  General  Staff.  This 
branch  at  once  began  its  collection  of  historical  documents  and  pre- 
pared to  make  use  of  them.  It  was  fortunate  in  securing  the  services 
of  several  historians  of  standing,  who  joined  it,  serving  under  emer- 
gency commissions. 

It  was  evident  that  nothing  could  be  done  for  a  long  time  on 
activities  abroad,  but  a  beginning  was  made  with  activities  in  the 
United  States  Sections  were  formed  to  deal  with  diplomatic  rela- 
tions and  with  the  economic  and  military  mobilization  of  the  country 
and  for  the  collection  and  preservation  of  photographs.  A  detailed 
and  careful  analysis  was  made  of  the  ground  ultimately  to  be  cov- 
ered which  resulted  in  an  outline  suitable  for  a  very  complete  his- 
tory of  the  participation  of  the  United  States  in  the  war.    This  out- 


142  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

line,  of  course,  was  never  considered  to  be  a  finished  product,  but 
remained  always  subject  to  current  revisions. 

To  fill  the  blank  spaces  left  in  this  outline  for  operations,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  branch  was  detached  and  sent  to  France.  He  was  placed 
on  duty  at  general  headquarters  in  the  historical  section,  General 
Staff,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  and  established  its  archives. 
That  section  passed  through  many  vicissitudes,  but  succeeded  in  col- 
lecting a  large  quantity  of  documents.  It  was  finally  designated  as 
the  custodian  of  all  historical  documents  which  had  ceased  to  be 
"  live  files  "  in  the  office  of  origin. 

In  the  spring  of  1919,  more  officers  having  become  available  on 
account  of  the  termination  of  hostilities,  the  general  headquarters 
section  was  much  enlarged  and  undertook  a  considerable  amount  of 
field  work.  The  ground  covered  by  the  most  important  of  the 
American  operations  was  studied  and  record  made  of  all  evidence 
found  there  which  might  assist  in  later  interpretation  of  docu- 
ments. This  evidence  was  put  in  the  form  of  maps,  sketches,  photo- 
graphs, and  written  field  notes.  This  work  was  undertaken  only 
just  in  time,  for  while  evidence  of  this  nature  was  still  plentiful,  it 
was  rapidly  disappearing.  The  clearing  up  of  debris  and  the  plow- 
ing of  fields  was  progressing  with  great  rapidity — a  most  encourag- 
ing indication  of  early  rehabilitation  of  the  country. 

Meanwhile,  a  similar  historical  section  had  been  established,  inde- 
pendently, at  headquarters  of  the  Services  of  Supply,  and  had  been 
very  active  in  collecting  material  dealing  with  every  phase  of  that 
intricate  organization.  Original  documents  were  accumulated  or 
located  in  the  files  where  they  originated,  and  special  historical  sum- 
maries were  called  for  from  all  services. 

After  the  armistice,  when  the  peace  conference  assembled,  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  historical  branch  was  sent  to  Paris  to  follow  its 
proceedings.  A  large  mass  of  material  on  the  diplomatic  situation 
was  thus  obtained. 

In  June,  1919,  these  activities  abroad  ceased.  Representatives  of 
each  of  the  historical  sections  there  were  brought  to  Washington  and 
placed  on  duty  in  the  historical  branch,  which  was  then  reorganized 
on  a  greatly  reduced  scale  for  work  on  a  peace  basis.  Its  functions 
were  to  preserve  historical  documents  relating  to  the  wars  of  the 
United  States;  to  make  these  documents,  or  the  information  con- 
tained therein,  accessible  to  agencies  of  the  War  Department  and  to 
students  and  investigators  properly  accredited;  and  to  prepare  his- 
torical monographs  on  military  subjects  of  interest  to  the  War  De- 
partment. To  these  duties  has  recently  been  added  supervision  of 
historical  work  of  all  bureaus  and  services  of  the  War  Department. 

The  archives  consist  of  two  departments — one  for  written  docu- 
ments and  one  for  photographs.    The  collection  of  written  documents 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  143 

is  not  yet  large,  but  is  rapidly  growing,  and  will  become  very  im- 
portant on  the  closing  of  general  headquarters,  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces,  when  all  purely  historical  documents  on  file  there 
will  be  added  to  it.  It  now  includes  all  the  original  files  of  the 
branch  dealing  with  activities  at  home;  a  considerable  amount  of 
diplomatic  material;  a  valuable  collection  of  papers  of  the  services 
of  supply  in  France ;  the  files  of  the  General  Purchasing  Board  and 
of  the  American  representative  on  the  military  board  of  allied  supply 
in  Paris;  and  a  small  collection  of  documents  dealing  with  opera- 
tions, including  the  field  notes  of  the  general  headquarters  historical 
section.  The  collection  of  photographs,  both  still  and  moving,  is 
very  large,  including  all  official  photographs  of  the  Signal  Corps 
illustrating  the  war  with  Germany  and  much  private  work;  orders 
have  recently  been  issued  adding  to  it  the  Brady  collection  of  Civil 
War  photographs. 

In  connection  with  the  archives  a  small  bureau  of  information  is 
maintained  for  answering  inquiries  on  historical  questions.  These 
come  in  increasing  numbers  from  agencies  of  the  War  Department 
and  from  outside  inquirers.  Lack  of  personnel  prevents  undertaking 
any  considerable  investigation,  but  when  specific  questions  are  asked 
an  effort  is  made  either  to  give  the  information  or  to  indicate  where 
and  how  it  may  be  obtained.  Facilities  for  research,  somewhat 
limited  as  yet,  are  provided  for  properly  accredited  investigators. 

Among  the  collecting  activities  of  the  archives,  two  are  deserving 
of  special  mention  here. 

The  connection  between  French  and  American  units  in  operations 
was  so  close  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  form  a  picture  of  our  own 
work  without  constant  reference  to  French  documents.  Some  of  them 
are  found  in  the  files  of  the  American  units  concerned,  but  by  no 
means  enough.  Permission  has  therefore  been  secured  from  the 
French  minister  of  war  for  a  representative  of  the  historical  branch 
to  work  in  the  archives  in  Paris,  and  much  valuable  material  is  being 
secured  in  this  way. 

Strong  efforts  are  also  being  made  to  secure  personal  narratives  of 
participants  in  action.  Superior  commanders  have  been  invited  to 
contribute  statements  supplementing  official  reports  and  many  are 
responding.  To  get  the  intimate  detail  of  combat,  a  list  of  questions 
has  been  prepared  and  is  being  sent  to  selected  subordinate  officers 
and  enlisted  men.  Their  responses  are  coming  in  considerable  num- 
bers and  are  proving  very  interesting  and  valuable. 

Eelations  have  been  established  with  the  association  of  State 
historical  bureaus.  This  will  probably  result  in  a  marked  growth  of 
the  demand  for  research  facilities. 

To  make  information  really  available,  however,  it  is  not  sufficient 
to  collect  the  documents.    The  files  are  accessible  to  few,  and  if  they 


144  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

were  more  widely  accessible  the  papers  would  be  destroyed  by  con- 
stant handling.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  print  and  distribute 
them. 

For  many  reasons  it  would  be  desirable  to  arrange  certain  docu- 
ments relating  to  the  recent  war  on  the  plan  of  the  records  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion — that  is,  classified  according  to  military  opera- 
tions. But  this  involves  waiting  until  the  documents  for  the  entire 
series  are  in  hand,  which  will  not  be  for  many  years.  A  different 
plan  of  classification  has  been  adopted  which  permits  beginning  at 
once  with  any  documents  that  can  be  collected  and  filling  in  the  series 
gradually. 

The  general  classification  is: 

(A)  Records  of  military  operations  overseas. 

(B)  Records  of  the  services  of  supply  overseas. 

(C)  Records  of  military  activities  in  the  United  States. 

Work  has  been  commenced  on  class  A.    The  detailed  program  is  as  follows : 

Records  of  the  World  War. 
Class  A. — Records  of  military  operations  overseas. 

Section  I.  General  headquarters,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  France. 

Vol.    1.  Commander  in  chief's  office. 

Vol.   2.  Chief  of  Staffs  office. 

Vol.    3.  First  section,  General  Staff. 

Vol.   4.  Second  section,  General  Staff. 

Vol.    5.  Third  section,  General  Staff. 

Vol.    6.  Fourth  section,  General  Staff. 

Vol.    7.  Fifth  section,  General  Staff. 

Vol.    8.  Adjutant  General's  office. 

Vol.    9.  Judge  Advocate  General's  office. 

Vol.  10.  Inspector  General's  office. 

Vol.  11.  Chief  of  Artillery's  office. 

Vol.  12.  Chief  of  Infantry's  office. 

Vol.  13.  Chief  of  Tank  Corps'  office. 

Vol.  14.  Chief  of  Air  Service. 

Section  II.  First  Army. 

Vol.  1.  Field  orders  and  annexes. 

Vol.2.  Orders. 

Vol.3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

Vol.4.  Operation  reports. 

Vol.  5.  War  diary. 

Vol.  6.  General  orders. 

Vol.  7,  Correspondence  and  messages. 

Section  III.  Second  Army. 

Vols.  1  to  7  as  in  Section  II. 

Section  IV.  Third  Army. 

Vols.  1  to  7  as  in  Section  II. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WORLD  WAR.  145 

Section  V.  First  Corps. 

Vol.  1.  Field  orders  and  annexes. 

Vol.2.  Orders. 

Vol.  3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

Vol.  4.  Operation  reports. 

Vol.  5.  War  diary. 

Vol.6.  General   orders. 

Vol.  7.  Correspondence  and  messages. 

Section  VI.  Second  Corps. 

Vols.  1  to  7  as  in  Section  V. 

Section  VII.  Third  Corps. 

Vols.  1  to  7  as  in  Section  V. 

Sections  VIII,  IX,  X,  etc.    One  for  each  corps. 

Section  — .  First  Division. 

Vol.  1.  Field  orders  and  annexes. 

Vol.  2.  Orders. 

Vol.  3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

Vol.  4.  Operation  reports. 

Vol.  5.  War  diary. 

Vol.  6.  General  orders. 

Vol.  7.  Correspondence  and  messages. 

Will  include  the  records  of  the  brigades  and  regiments. 

Sections .  One  for  each  combat  division. 

Section  — .  Miscellaneous  units. 

Vol.  1,  part  1;  vol.  2,  part  2;  vol.  3,  part  3;  etc.,  part  4  will  include  records 
f  units  which  were  assigned  as  Army  or  corps  troops. 

Class  B. — Records  of  Services  of  Supply  overseas. 

Section  I.  Headquarters  Services  of  Supply. 

Vol.  1.  Commanding  general's  office. 
Vol.  2.  Chief  of  Staff's  office. 

Vol.  3.  First  section,  General  Staff,  Services  of  Supply. 
Vol.  4.  Second  section,  General  Staff,  Services  of  Supply. 
Vol.  5.  Fourth  section,  General  Staff,  Services  of  Supply. 
Vol.  6.  Adjutant  General's  Office,  Services  of  Supply. 
Vol.  7.  Judge  Advocate  General's  Office,  Services  of  Supply. 
Vol.  8.  Provost  Marshal  General. 
Vol.  9.  Director  General  of  Transportation. 
Vol.  10.  Director  Motor  Transport  Corps. 
Vol.  11.  Chief  Surgeon. 
Vol.  12.  Chief  engineer  . 
Vol.  13.  Chief  of  Chemical  Warfare  Service. 
Vol.  14.  Chief  of  Air  Service. 
Vol.  15.  Chief  Signal  Officer. 
25066*— 23 10 


*46  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Vol.  16.  Chief  Quartermaster  Corps. 

Vol.  17.  Chief  Ordnance  officer. 

Vol.  18.  War  Risk  section. 

Vol.  19.  General  purchasing  agent. 

Vol.  20.  Renting,  Requisition,  and  Claims  Service. 

Section  II.  Base  section  No.  1,  Services  of  Supply. 

Vol.  1,  vol.  2,  vol.  3,  vol.  4,  vol.  5,  etc.     Each  section  to  correspond  to  the' 
organization  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Services  of  Supply  section. 

Section  III.  Base  section  No.  2,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  IV.  Base  section  No.  3,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  V.  Base  section  No.  4,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  VI.  Base  section  No.  5,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  VII.  Base  section  No.  6,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  VIII.  Base  section  No.  7,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  IX.  Base  section  No.  8,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  X.  Base  section  No.  9,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  XI.  Intermediate  section,  Services  of  Supply. 
Section  XII.  Advance  section,  Services  of  Supply 
Class  C— Records  of  military  activities  in  the  United  States.    To  consist  of  the' 
reports  of  the  heads  of  departments  and  committees,  together  with  the  docu- 
ments which  were  made  public— e.  g.: 

Vol.    1.  Secretary  of  War. 

Vol.    2.  Chief  of  Staff. 

Vol.    3.  Directors  of  General  Staff  Division. 

Vol.    4.  Adjutant  General. 

Vol.    5.  Inspector  General. 

Vol.    6.  Judge  Advocate  General. 

Vol.    7.  Quartermaster  General 

Vol.    8.  Director  of  finance. 

Vol.    9.  Surgeon   General. 

Vol.  10.  Chief  of  Engineers. 

Vol.11.  The  Construction  Division. 

Vol.12.  Chief  of  Ordnance. 

Vol.  lfy  Chief  Signal  Officer. 

Vol.  14.  Chief  of  Field  Artillery. 

Vol.  15.  Chief  of  Coast  Artillery. 

Vol.  16.  Director  of  military  aeronautics. 

Vol.  17.  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production. 

Vol.  18.  Director  of  air  service. 

Vol.  19.  Chemical  warfare  service. 

Vol.  20.  Chief  Motor  Transport  Corps. 

Vol.21.  Militia  Bureau. 

Vol.22.  Provost  marshal  general. 

Vol.  23.  The  Council  of  National  Defense. 

Vol.24.  War  Council. 

Vol.  25.  The  Students'  Army  Training  Corps. 

Vol.  26.  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities. 

Vol.  27.  Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Training. 

Vol.28.  War  Credits  Board. 

Vol.  29.  Claims  Board,  War  Department. 

Vol.30.  Real  estate  service. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  147 

A  few  of  the  papers  of  general  headquarters  were  printed  in  France  for  lim- 
ited distribution,  but  will  ultimately  be  reprinted  in  this  series.     In  selecting 
I  documents  for  publication  efforts  are  being  made  to  collect  first  those  for  which 
!  actual  demand  develops  in  the  Army  schools  or  elsewhere.    Manuscript  for  five 
volumes  has  been  sent  to  the  Public  Printer,  as  follows : 

Section  II.  First  Army. 
Vol.1.  Field  orders. 
Vol.3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

Section  VI.  Second  Army  Corps. 
Vol.  1.  Field  orders. 
Vol.  3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

Section  IX.  Fifth  Army  Corps. 
Vol.3.  Intelligence  summaries. 

For  the  preparation  of  historical  monographs  the  field  is  unlimited ;  as  many 
officers  and  civilian  writers  as  could  be  found  could  be  kept  busy  for  an  indefi- 
nite period.  It  is  only  just  beginning  to  be  possible  to  undertake  such  work, 
and  very  few  qualified  officers  are  available.  Relations  have  been  established 
with  the  American  Historical  Association,  and  it  is  hoped  that  these  may  grow 
more  intimate,  so  that  historical  workers  in  civil  life  may  be  led  to  take  up 
military  specialties. 

In  so  far  as  the  few  officers  of  the  branch  are  concerned  it  is  necessary  to 
limit  the  field;  it  still  remains  too  broad.  In  the  first  place,  work  is  being 
confined  to  the  War  with  Germany.  There  is  no  present  intention  of  preparing 
a  complete  "  official  account " ;  economic  affairs  must  be  omitted,  except  in  so 
far  as  they  may  incidentally  be  drawn  into  question  in  connection  with  other 
investigations.  This  leaves,  broadly  speaking,  three  subdivisions  of  the  work — 
mobilization  and  demobilization,  includng  all  activities  in  the  United  States, 
operations  abroad,  and  the  services  of  supply  abroad. 

The  detailed  plan  in  so  far  as  developed  is  given  below.  Where  a  title  is 
given  without  special  mark  the  monograph  is  contemplated  or  in  preparation ; 
a  title  in  italics  indicates  a  monograph  completed  and  awaiting  publication ;  a 
title  in  italics  with  a  star  indicates  a  published  monograph. 

Section  I.  Narrative  History  of  Military  Operations. 

A.  The  major  operations  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces: 

1.  "  Cambrai  " — H.  B.  Monograph  No.  5. 

2.  "  Somme  Defensive  and  Lys." 

3.  "Aisne  and  Montdidier-Noyon." 

4.  "  Champagne-Marne  and  Aisne-Marne." 
4(a).  "The  Third  Division  on  the  Marne." 

5.  "  Somme  Offensive,  Oisne-Aisne,  Ypres-Lys." 

5(a).  "Operations  Second  Corps  in  Somme  Offensive.*' — H.  B.  Monograph 
No.  10. 

6.  "  St.  Mihiel." 

7.  "  Meuse-Argonne." 

8.  "Blanc  Mont  (Meuse-Argonne-Champagne)J' — H.  B.  Monograph  No.  9. 

9.  "  Vittorio-Veneto." 

B.  "  Operations  in  North  Russia,  1918-1919." 

C.  "Operations  in  Siberia,  1917-1920." 

D.  "  Operations  in  Italy,  1917-1918." 


148  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Section  II.  Studies  of  Services  of  Supply. 

A.  "  Organization  of  Services  of  Supply,  American  Expeditionary  Forces."— 
H.  B.  Monograph  No.  7. 

B.  "Replacement  of  Personnel,  American  Expeditionary  Forces:' — H.  B. 
Monograph  No.  8. 

C.  "  Procurement  of  Supplies,  American  Expeditionary  Forces." 

D.  "  Initial  Equipment  and  Supply,  American  Expeditionary  Forces." 

Section  III.  Special  Tactical  Studies. 

*A.  "  A  survey  of  German  Tactics,  1918." — H.  B.  Monograph  No.  1.  W.  D. 
Document  No.  883,  1918. 

*B.  "A  study  in  Troop  Frontage."— H.  B.  Monograph  No.  4,  W.  D.  Doc.  No. 
992,  1919. 

C.  "  A  study  in  Battle  Formation." — H.  B.  Monograph  No.  6. 

Section  IV.  Military  Activities  in  the  United  States. 

*A.  "  Economic  Mobilization,  in  the  United  States  for  the  War  of  1917."-^ 
H.  B.  Monograph  No.  2,  W.  D.  Document  No.  885,  1918. 

*B.  "  A  Handbook  of  Economic  Agencies  of  the  War  of  1917" — H.  B.  Mono- 
graph No.  S,  W.  D.  Document  No.  908,  1919. 

Section  V.  Histories  of  Teoop  Units. 

A.  "  Outline  History  of  Divisions." 

B.  "  Outline  History  of  Regular  Regiments." 

The  first  and  easiest  work  is  to  put  into  coherent  shape  the  outline  of  each 
operation  and  of  the  service  of  each  American  unit  and  to  make  a  general  sur- 
vey of  the  other  fields — mobilization  and  the  services  of  supply.  This  work,  it 
will  be  seen,  is  well  underway.  The  papers  will  be  as  short  as  practicable,  but 
in  sufficient  detail  to  lead  an  investigator  into  any  part  of  the  subject  which 
he  may  wish  to  study.  Special  attention  will  be  given  to  citations  of  authority, 
and  the  aim  will  be  to  make  the  papers  serve  both  as  an  accurate  general  state- 
ment and  as  an  introduction  to  the  documents. 

Upon  these  will  be  based  a  series  of  monographs,  each  taking  up  some  one 
particular  feature  of  the  basic  papers  and  developing  it.  These,  again,  will 
serve,  each  in  its  own  department,  the  same  purpose  as  the  general  papers  upon 
which  they  are  based ;  they  will  bear  the  same  relation  to  them,  let  us  say,  as 
the  1 :  20,000  map  does  to  the  1 :  200,000.  These  should  involve  a  considerable 
amount  of  critical  study  and  should  go  somewhat  deeply  into  the  basic  original 
documents.  The  purpose  of  each  being  limited,  they  can  begin  to  use  the  magni- 
fying glass;  they  can  go  beyond  the  operation  report,  perhaps,  to  the  penciled 
message  written  in  a  shell  hole. 

These  papers  being  so  constructed  as  to  serve  as  a  further  index  to  the  docu- 
ments, it  is  evident  that  the  map  scale  may  be  again  increased  if  desired.  A 
smaller  feature  of  any  particular  subject  may  be  taken  up  and  treated  with 
greater  elaboration  of  detail. 

But  historical  work  in  the  War  Department  is  not  limited  to  the  work  of  the 
Historical  Branch.  While  there  is  no  other  purely  historical  organization, 
many  bureaus  and  services  devote  some  attention  to  such  work. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war  various  services  initiated  steps  toward  the 
preparation  of  histories  and  reports  dealing  with  their  activities.  When  re- 
quests for  authority  to  publish  were  received  it  was  found  impossible  to  grant 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  149 

these  requests,  as  some  services  contemplated  the  most  extensive  publication, 
including  all  their  activities,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  in  the  greatest  detail, 
while  others  contemplated  no  publication  at  all.  So  the  entire  matter  was  re- 
ferred to  the  Historical  Branch,  which  was  directed  to  make  a  survey  of  all 
historical  work  already  published  and  contemplated  by  the  services.  This  sur- 
vey brought  out  the  fact  that  there  was  a  great  divergence  of  views  and  inten- 
tions among  the  services  as  to  what  class  of  material  should  be  published  and 
as  to  the  amount  of  publication.  One  service,  for  example,  had  accumulated 
a  mass  of  material  amounting  to  several  hundred  volumes,  giving  detailed 
data  on  their  entire  field  of  activities,  beginning  with  procurement  in  the 
United  States  and  Europe  and  ending  with  operations  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Other  services,  on  the  other  hand,  while  they  had  collected  certain  historical 
documents,  did  not  desire  any  publications  whatever  other  than  their  annual 
reports.  Some  services  had  not  undertaken  a  collection  of  documents  relating 
to  their  war  activities.  The  survey  indicated  that  if  each  service  were  au- 
thorized to  go  its  own  way  in  the  matter  of  the  publication  of  its  history  there 
would  result  a  great  deal  of  duplication  as  well  as  omission. 

To  meet  this  situation  the  Historical  Branch  was  directed  to  prepare  a  gen- 
eral scheme  to  unify  historical  publications  of  the  services,  and  it  was  also 
directed  to  assume  supervision  and  control. 

The  general  scheme,  as  approved,  may  be  outlined  as  follows :  Each  chief  of 
service  was  directed  to  appoint  a  suitable  historical  officer,  who  would  repre- 
sent his  service  in  all  matters  of  historical  publication.  Historical  publications 
were  divided  broadly  into  two  classes — those  that  treated  of  the  activities  of 
one  service  only  and  those  that  treated  of  two  or  more  services.  Papers  of 
the  first  class  are  to  be  prepared  by  the  proper  historical  officer,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Historical  Branch,  and  those  of  the  second  class  by  the  Historical 
Branch,  assisted  by  the  interested  historical  officers.  Papers  of  a  purely 
technical  character  require  practically  no  supervision  from  the  Historical 
Branch  other  than  in  matters  relating  to  form  and  bibliography,  while  papers 
with  a  tactical  or  strategical  bearing,  or  those  dealing  with  general  policy, 
would  call  for  a  very  close  coordination.  A  conference  was  held  at  the  office 
of  the  Historical  Branch  of  all  service  historical  officers,  where  the  general 
scheme  was  explained,  and  each  historical  officer  was  requested  to  submit  to 
the  Historical  Branch  a  general  outline  of  publication  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  his  particular  service,  such  outline  including  all  important  activities  of  his- 
torical interest.  These  proposed  outlines  are  now  being  received  and  are,  when 
necessary,  modified  to  fit  into  a  general  scheme  for  all  War  Department  publi- 
cations. 

Particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  above  plan  as  it  constitutes  the  first 
step  ever  taken  by  the  War  Department  to  unify  Government  publications  of  a 
historical  nature.  While  the  plan  provides  a  system  by  means  of  which  a 
supervision  is  exercised  over  these  historical  papers,  nevertheless,  it  by  no 
means  limits  in  any  way  or  discourages  the  services;  on  the  other  hand,  it 
will  result  in  many  valuable  publications  that  otherwise  would  not  be  prepared. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  these  publications  will  conform  to  proper  historical 
standards,  and  by  no  means  the  least  value  of  this  supervision  will  consist  in  the 
requirement  that  service  publications  shall  be  based  in  the  future  upon  the  best 
obtainable  sources,  and  that  such  sources  shall  be  indicated  in  the  bibliography 
attached. 

Somewhat  akin  to  this  work  of  War  Department  services  is  a  custom  now 
becoming  established  in  the  preparation  of  histories  of  troop  units.  The 
Historical  Branch  is  preparing  brief  outlines,  but  many  units  desire  to  go 


150  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

into  detail.  When  any  unit  seeks  information  from  the  War  Department  as  to 
its  own  history,  it  is  becoming  the  practice  to  refer  it  to  the  Historical  Branch ; 
in  many  cases  a  representative  of  the  unit  comes  to  Washington,  where  the 
Historical  Branch  furnishes  him  desk  room  and  facilities  for  research,  and 
gives  advice  and  guidance  as  to  method  and  form.  In  this  way  histories  of 
several  divisions  and  regiments  are  being  prepared  conforming  to  accepted 
historical  standards. 

Appendix. 

survey  of  historical  work  under  preparation  and  contemplated  by  various 
services  and  departments  of  the  war  department. 

I.  The   following  memo,  was  received  by  the  Historical  Branch,  War  Plans 
Division,  on  February  8,  1920: 

February  6,  1920. 
Memorandum  for  the  Judge  Advocate  General. 
Subject :  Survey  of  historical  work. 

1.  The  chief  of  staff  has  directed  a  survey  to  be  made  at  once  of  the  his- 
torical work  being  done  in  each  of  the  bureaus  and  services  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment. It  has  come  to  his  knowledge  that  a  considerable  amount  of  work  has 
been  done  in  connection  with  the  preparation  of  historical  matter  for  the 
majority  of  the  services.  He  desires  that  this  work  be  unified,  so  that  the 
completed  histories  will  fit  into  some  general  scheme,  and  he  has  directed  that 
the  supervision  and  control  shall  be  under  the  Historical  Branch,  War  Plans 
Division. 

2.  An  officer  of  the  Historical  Branch,  War  Plans  Division,  will  accordingly 
call  upon  you  with  regard  to  this  matter.  I  request  that  you  afford  him 
facilities  for  acquainting  himself  with  the  work  already  done  and  with  the 
plans  in  prospect.  As  soon  as  this  survey  can  be  made  the  necessary  con- 
ferences will  be  held  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  basis  for  carrying  on  this  very 
important  task. 

(Signed)  Wm.  Lassiter, 

Colonel,  General  Staff, 
Acting  Director,  W.  P.  D. 

Copies  to  Historical  Branch ;  Chief,  Coast  Artillery  Corps ;  Chief.  Militia  Bureau  ;  Chief, 
Signal  Office ;  Chief.  Chemical  Warfare  Service ;  Chief,  Construction  Division ;  Quarter- 
master General ;  Chief,  Transportation  Service  ;  Chief  of  Ordnance  ;  Director  of  Air  Serv- 
ice ;  Chief,  Motor  Transport  Corps  ;  Chief  of  Engineers  ;  Chief  of  Field  Artillery  ;  Surgeon 
General  of  the  Army  ;  Inspector  General  of  the  Army  ;  Adjutant  General  of  the  Army. 

II.  Pursuant  to  this  memo,  an  officer  of  this  branch  visited  the  services 
enumerated  above.  This  officer  had  an  interview  with  the  chief  of  service 
when  such  was  practicable.  When  this  was  not  practicable  he  saw  the  second 
officer  in  charge;  and  in  every  case  he  interviewed  the  officer  engaged  in  his- 
torical work  and  examined  such  historical  data  as  were  accessible. 

III.  The  following  is  a  result  of  this  survey: 

Coast  Artillery. 

1.  No  historical  matter  has  been  published,  and  no  definite  steps  taken  with  a 
vfew  toward  publication,  but  it  is  the  intention  of  this  corps  to  prepare  a  history 
of  Coast  Artillery  activities  during  the  war.  The  material  for  such  a  publica- 
tion is  on  file,  but  not  collated. 

2.  No  personnel  engaged  in  historical  work. 

Militia  Bureau. 

1.  No  historical  matter  has  been  published  and  no  definite  steps  taken  with  a 
view  toward  publication. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  151 

2.  The  bureau  is  considering  the  preparation  of  a  document  giving  an  account 
of  the  use  of  militia  during  the  war  in  the  capacity  of  "  Home  Guards,"  refer- 
ring particularly  to  the  guarding  of  important  manufacturing  plants,  bridges, 
tunnels,  etc.,  in  case  of  national  emergency. 

3.  No  personnel  engaged  in  historical  work. 

Signal  Corps. 

1.  This  corps  is  preparing  a  roster  of  the  corps  personnel  of  all  grades  and 
ranks  (commissioned  and  enlisted)  that  took  part  in  the  late  war.  Not  for 
publication. 

2.  There  was  prepared  a  history  of  the  Signal  Corps  in  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces  (operations  and  services  of  supply),  consisting  of  over  2,000 
typed  pages,  illustrated.    This  is  not  for  publication. 

3.  A  history  of  the  Signal  Corps  in  the  United  States  during  the  war  was 
prepared,  but  is  not  for  publication. 

4.  The  annual  report  of  the  Chief  Signal  Officer,  1919,  which  has  been  pub- 
lished and  distributed,  was  based  upon  the  above-mentioned  histories. 

5.  No  personnel  available  for  historical  work. 

Chemical  Warfare  Service. 

1.  No  historical  matter  published  and  no  publication  contemplated. 

2.  The  attached  Exhibit  A,  secured  from  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service, 
gives  a  list  of  historical  matter  compiled,  showing  number  of  volumes  and 
contents. 

3.  The  following  remarks  pertain  to  the  compilations  enumerated  on  this 
exhibit : 

(1)  One  volume,  300  pages,  a  resume  of  Chemical  Warfare  Service  activities 
in  the  United  States,  typed,  temporarily  bound,  and  indexed. 

(2)  Very  brief,  10  pages. 

(3)  This  compilation  covers  the  subject  technically. 

(4)  Fifty-nine  volumes,  temporarily  bound,  typed,  indexed  with  maps  and 
charts.    Many  documents  attached  to  text. 

(5)  Eleven  volumes,  bound  temporarily,  typed,  indexed,  map  charts  and  docu- 
ments attached. 

(6)  Brief. 

(7)  Six  parts,  maps,  charts,  and  index. 

(8)  Fifteen  parts,  typed,  maps,  and  charts. 

(9)  A  personal  narrative,  prepared  by  Gen.  A.  A.  Fries,  70  pages,  typed,  tem- 
porarily bound  and  indexed. 

(10)  Ten  parts,  each  50  pages,  typed,  maps,  and  charts;  copies  of  supporting 
documents  attached. 

(11)  One  part,  20  pages,  maps,  charts,  and  copies  of  supporting  documents 
attached. 

(12)  One  part,  30  pages,  typed;  supporting  documents  attached. 

(13)  Fifteer  parts,  20  pages  each,  typed ;  maps  and  charts  attached. 

None  of  th«  above  compilation  should  be  published  in  their  present  form. 
They  should  constitute  material  upon  which  to  prepare  matter  for  publication. 
This  is  also  the  opinion  of  Gen.  Sibert. 

4.  The  Chemical  Warfare  Service  has  published  in  technical  magazines 
various  monographs  of  scientific  interest. 

5.  No  personnel  employed  in  historical  work. 


152  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION, 

Construction  Division. 

1.  This  division  has  compiled  556  temporarily  bound  volumes,  typed  and 
indexed,  constituting  a  detailed  history  of  the  organization,  functions,  and 
operations  of  the  division  during  the  war,  including  a  complete  history  of  each 
construction  project.    It  is  98  per  cent  complete.    Exhibit  B  is  a  table  of  contents. 

2.  Based  upon  the  above,  there  has  been  compiled  17  volumes,  temporarily 
bound,  200  pages  each,  constituting  a  resume.  None  of  the  above  is  for  publi- 
cation. 

3.  Seven  clerks,  no  officers,  are  engaged  in  completing  the  first-named  work. 

Quartermaster  Corps. 

1.  No  historical  matter  published  and  none  contemplated. 

2.  There  has  been  compiled  and  filed  a  short  history  of  every  activity  of  this 
corps  during  the  war.    A  short  resume  of  this  has  been  compiled. 

3.  Exhibit  G  is  a  copy  of  a  memorandum  sent  to  every  industrial  firm  in  the 
United  States  that  had  business  relations  during  the  war  with  the  corps.  The 
replies  received  are  filed  and  will  constitute  valuable  data  in  an  economic  study 
of  the  war. 

4.  Personnel:  Two  clerks. 

Transportation  Service. 

1.  The  annual  reports  of  the  Transportation  Corps,  1918  and  1919,  contain 
all  the  historical  matter  published. 

2.  A  publication  is  under  preparation  in  the  Office  of  the  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War,  edited  by  Capt.  R.  F.  Wilson,  which  will  constitute  a  history  of 
transportation  service  operations  during  the  war.  It  is  based  upon  the  two 
annual  reports  referred  to  above,  also  upon  additional  data  now  being  furnished 
by  this  service.  The  title  of  this  work  will  be  "  The  Road  to  France."  It  will 
probably  be  a  publication  similar  to  "America's  Munitions." 

3.  Personnel :  One  officer,  no  clerks. 

Ordnance  Department. 

1.  A  series  of  monographs  have  been  published  and  are  in  process  of  publi- 
cation relating  to  various  ordnance  material  used  during  the  war.  The  sub- 
jects are  treated  historically  and  technically.  The  entire  series  will  comprise 
35  publications,  27  of  which  are  partly  or  wholly  completed.  These  are  issued 
as  confidential  documents  for  circulation  within  the  Ordnance  Department  only. 
Exhibit  D  is  a  list  of  these  monographs. 

2.  There  is  under  preparation  a  history  of  each  ordnance  district.  There 
were  13  districts,  12  in  the  United  States  and  1  in  Canada.  When  completed 
this  will  probably  be  published  in  one  volume  of  300  pages.  This  will  be  a  popu- 
lar publication,  showing  what  ordnance  material  was  obtained  in  each  district 
and  from  whom.    It  may  be  classed  as  economic  rather  than  technical. 

3.  Material  has  been  collected  for  a  history  of  the  Ordnance  Department  in 
the  American  Expeditionary  Forces.    This  material  has  not  yet  been  edited. 

4.  Personnel :  Six  clerks. 

Air  Service. 

1.  Data  on  Air  Service  history  may  be  discussed  under  three  headings:  (a) 
Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production;  (b)  Division  of  Military  Aeronautics;  (c) 
Air  Service,  American  Expeditionary  Forces. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  153 

(a)  The  text  has  been  completed,  but  no  steps  taken  toward  printing. 
Many  supporting  documents  collected;  two  volumes. 

(6)  The  preparation  of  this  work  has  not  progressed  very  far.  Supporting 
documents  are  being  collected ;  two  volumes. 

(c)  This  work  was  compiled  in  France  and  consists  of  269  volumes,  includ- 
ing maps,  charts,  and  supporting  documents.  One  copy  of  this  work  is  filed 
with  general  headquarters,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  which  copy  con- 
tains many  original  reports  of  squadron  and  group  commanders. 

2.  Personnel:  One  officer,  11  clerks. 

Motor  Transport  Corps. 

1.  Two  works  on  the  history  of  the  corps  are  in  process  of  preparation — (a) 
history  of  the  Motor  Transport  Corps  in  American  Expeditionary  Forces; 
(6)  history  of  the  Motor  Transport  Corps. 

The  work  (a)  consists  of  motor  operations  with  troops  at  the  front  and 
motor  operations  in  the  Services  of  Supply.  It  will  consist  of  17  chapters, 
probably  600,000  words,  including  the  appendix.  The  appendix  will  be  approxi- 
mately 65  per  cent  of  the  entire  work;  maps,  charts,  plans,  photographs,  and 
documents  are  included.  All  of  the  chapters  have  been  completed  except  four 
which  are  now  in  the  following  state  of  completion  (Feb.  16,  1920)  :  Chapter  on 
supply,  60  per  cent  complete;  chapter  on  repair,  15  per  cent  complete;  chapter 
on  literature  of  Motor  Transport  Corps,  95  per  cent  complete;  chapter  on  con- 
clusions, 20  per  cent  complete.    Chapter  15  of  this  work  is  a  bibliography. 

The  completed  portion  is  typed  and  filed  in  folders.  The  text  contains  refer- 
ences to  accompanying  documents.    The  system  of  references  should  be  improved. 

The  work  has  been  read  by  Gen.  Walker,  who  made  certain  corrections. 
Chapters  on  technical  subject  were  reviewed  by  qualified  technical  officers, 
though  this  fact  does  not  appear  in  the  text.  Chapters  1  to  16  may  be  classified 
as  technical,  in  that  they  treat  in  considerable  detail  of  Motor  Transport  Corps 
matters. 

The  work  (&)  is  nearing  completion.  It  will  finally  consist  of  two  volumes  of 
2,000  pages  in  all. 

A  considerable  portion  of  this  work  has  already  reached  the  printer,  and 
first  proof  has  been  received  for  correction. 

Of  the  entire  work  60  per  cent  refers  to  American  Expeditionary  Forces' 
activities  of  the  corps  and  40  per  cent  to  activities  in  the  United  States.  The 
portion  relating  to  American  Expeditionary  Forces'  activities  is  based  primarily 
upon  the  work  (a).  The  work  includes  maps,  charts,  and  photographs. 

Col.  Ireland,  Motor  Transport  Corps,  who  is  editing  work  (a),  recommends 
that  work  (b)  be  completed  at  once,  as  it  will  be  of  considerable  value  to  the 
corps,  to  the  service  schools,  and  to  the  motor-car  industry. 

Before  publication  this  work  should  be  examined  to  ascertain  if  references 
to  supporting  documents  are  complete. 

2.  Personnel:  One  officer,  2  clerks. 

Corps  of  Engineers. 

1.  There  was  published,  under  date  of  July  8,  1919,  but  only  recently  distrib- 
uted, a  "  Historical  Report  of  the  Chief  Engineer,  including  all  operations  of 
the  Engineer  Department,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  1917-1919.  There 
are  68  appendixes  to  this  history,  which  were  not  published  but  are  filed.    They 


154  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

consist  of  technical  articles  relating  to  particular  Engineer  activities,  written 
by  the  officers  who  specialized  upon  the  particular  work. 

2.  There  is  on  file  a  series  of  monthly  reports  on  operations  made  by  organiza- 
tions (engineer)  in  the  United  States  and  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  also 
voluminous  reports  on  the  engineer  depot  at  Camp  Humphries.  The  former 
consists  of  36  temporarily  bound  volumes  and  the  latter  of  36  volumes.  Both 
have  maps  and  charts  attached  and  are  typed. 

3.  There  was  planned  a  final  history  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  which  was 
to  consist  of  an  account  of  the  activities  of  each  engineer  organization.  This 
work  was  never  completed.    The  data  to  compile  such  a  work  is  on  file. 

4.  There  is  on  file  a  series  of  "  Reports  of  Individual  Experience  "  of  Engi- 
neer officers.  These  consist  of  personal  narratives  which  all  Engineer  officers 
were  asked  to  prepare.    About  30  per  ceDt  of  replies  have  been  received. 

5.  A  list  of  citations  and  awards  has  been  prepared. 

6.  There  is  a  "  research  file,"  consisting  of  reports  made  by  Engineer  officers 
upon  new  methods  of  engineering  observed  either  in  the  Allied  or  German 
armies. 

7.  This  corps  has  a  collection  of  photographs  taken  by  Engineer  personnel, 
classified  according  to  geographical  localities  and  by  organizations.  This  col- 
lection has  been  fully  indexed. 

8.  No  personnel  in  historical  work. 

Field  Artillery  Corps. 

1.  No  historical  matter  has  been  published  and  no  such  publication  is  an- 
ticipated. 

2.  There  are  being  compiled  data  of  artillery  organizations  that  served  with 
the  American  Expeditionary  Forces. 

3.  There  is  a  file  devoted  to  historical  material  on  the  operations  of  the 
School  of  Fire  and  Artillery  Officers'  Training  School. 

4.  Personnel:  Two  officers,  one  clerk. 

Medical  Corps, 

1.  No  historical  publications  issued. 

2.  A  work  is  under  preparation,  entitled  "  Medical  and  Surgical  History  of 
the  World  War."  It  was  suggested  by  a  similar  work  prepared  after  the  Civil 
War.  Various  selected  medical  officers  have  been  assigned  subjects  concerning 
which  they  have  special  knowledge.  An  editorial  board  is  charged  with  the 
arrangement  of  the  material.  This  work  will  include  15  volumes  of  about  500 
pages  each.  Exhibit  E  attached  gives  the  subject  matter  of  the  chapters.  The 
first  three  chapters  will  relate  to  tactical  and  administrative  subjects.  Five 
volumes  will  probably  be  completed  by  June  30,  1920,  and  thereafter  one 
volume  every  two  months. 

3.  Personnel:  Two  officers,  three  clerks. 

Inspector  General, 

1.  No  historical  material  yet  published. 

2.  A  history  of  the  Inspector  General's  Department  during  the  war  is  now 
being  prepared.    It  will  probably  not  exceed  75  pages. 

3.  No  personnel  engaged  in  historical  work. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  155 

The  Adjutant  General. 

1.  No  historical  publication  written. 

2.  There  is  under  preparation  a  record  showing  the  participation  of  organi- 
zations in  engagements  during  the  war. 

3.  It  is  contemplated  to  bring  Heitman's  Register  of  the  Army  up  to  date. 

4.  Data  is  being  prepared  showing  losses  during  the  war,  classified  according 
to  organizations  and  States. 

5.  A  card  system  has  been  established  showing  the  strength  of  Regular 
organizations  at  the  end  of  each  month.  This  is  based  upon  the  monthly 
returns. 

6.  No  personnel  for  historical  work. 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT. 

By  Capt.  Dudley  W.  Knox,  United  States  Navy,  Officer  in  Charge  of  the 
Historical  Section,  Navy  Department. 

The  fact  that  publication  of  the  naval  records  of  the  Civil  War  is 
not  yet  complete,  perhaps  indicates  an  apathy  within  the  Navy 
respecting  the  recording  of  its  history.  In  any  event,  American 
participation  in  the  Great  War  had  progressed  for  more  than  a  year 
before  any  definite  steps  were  taken  toward  naval  historical  collec- 
tion. Stimulated  by  the  admirably  organized  British  Historical 
Section  of  the  War  Cabinet,  which,  under  the  eminent  naval  his- 
torian, Sir  Julian  Corbett,  had  included  the  war  activities  of  Navy, 
Army,  and  other  governmental  agencies  since  before  1914,  Admiral 
Sims  early  recommended  the  formation  of  an  American  Naval  His- 
torical Section. 

But  it  was  not  until  June,  1918,  that  the  Navy  Department  acted 
favorably  upon  Admiral  Sims's  recommendation,  and  even  then  only 
to  the  extent  of  forming  an  exceedingly  small  historical  section  in 
Washington,  under  the  charge  of  Rear  Admiral  W.  W.  Kimball, 
retired.  Notwithstanding  repeated  requests  that  the  necessary  per- 
sonnel, including  trained  historians,  be  sent  to  London  to  undertake 
the  collection  of  documents  and  data,  Admiral  Sims  did  not  obtain 
the  requisite  authority  to  create  an  historical  section  of  his  staff 
until  after  the  armistice  was  signed.  On  November  18,  1918,  he 
received  telegraphic  instructions  that,  "  owing  to  the  signing  of  the 
armistice,  it  is  considered  too  late  to  send  an  Historical  Section 
abroad.  Request  that  services  of  your  staff  be  utilized  as  far  as 
possible  to  collect  data  for  naval  history.  *  *  *  "  Accordingly,  a 
section  was  then  created  in  London  in  charge  of  Capt.  D.  W.  Knox, 
assisted  by  a  number  of  other  active  and  reserve  officers,  among  whom 
was  one  historian,  Lieut.  T.  B.  Kittredge,  United  States  Naval  Re- 
serve Force. 

Since  demobilization  was  impending,  and  was  expected  to  in- 
clude the  abolition  of  headquarters  in  London,  the  work  of  the  His- 


156  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   ASSOCIATION. 

torical  Section  abroad  was  limited  necessarily  to  the  selection,  copy- 
ing, arrangement,  indexing,  and  filing  of  appropriate  documents 
from  the  voluminous  and  varied  headquarters  files.  After  prelimi- 
nary study  of  French  and  British  systems,  it  was  decided  to  follow 
the  latter  closely.  Selections  were  limited  to  papers  relating  to  the 
operations  of  naval  forces.  All  papers  were  arranged  primarily  by 
geographical  areas,  and  placed  in  chronological  order  within  each 
area.  Subdivision  by  subjects,  except  for  supplementary  files,  was 
avoided  when  possible,  since  the  British  were  most  emphatic  in  stat- 
ing that  any  attempt  to  collect  and  permanently  bind  records  by 
subjects  was  a  mistake  and  would  handicap  historical  writing 
greatly.  Necessarily  some  documents,  such  as  reports  covering  a 
long  period  of  time,  statistical  data,  etc.,  had  to  be  filed  by  subjects; 
but  the  geographical-chronological  system  was  followed  as  closely  as 
practicable.  This  work  occupied  a  large  clerical  force  for  about  six 
months,  after  which  the  historical  collection  was  transferred  to 
Washington. 

Meantime  the  Historical  Section  in  the  Navy  Department,  after 
adopting  the  system  of  filing  used  in  London,  endeavored  to  collect 
material  through  the  various  bureaus  and  offices  of  the  department, 
and  the  other  naval  organizations  elsewhere,  ashore  and  afloat.  But 
progress  in  this  collection  was  exceedingly  slow,  owing  to  the  handi- 
cap of  very  limited  office  force  within  the  section,  to  the  lack  of 
funds,  and  to  the  reluctance  of  many  offices  to  part  with  their  files. 

In  July,  1919,  the  Navy  Library,  which  had  previously  had  cog- 
nizance of  naval  historical  records,  was  transferred  to  the  His- 
torical Section;  and  under  the  act  of  March,  1919,  Congress  first 
appropriated  money  for  the  collection  and  classification  of  naval 
data  relating  to  the  late  war.  These  two  events  enabled  the  section 
to  make  fair  progress  thereafter  in  its  work,  though  funds,  clerical 
force,  and  office  space  were  still  inadequate,  and  these  deficiencies 
will  probably  prevent  completion  of  the  collection  and  filing  of 
material  in  a  form  suitable  for  use  comprehensively  by  historians 
for  many  years. 

The  historical  archives  are  divided  into  three  main  branches — 
pictorial,  logistics,  and  operations.  The  former  includes  photo- 
graphs, posters,  maps,  charts,  etc.  The  scope  of  logistics  is  so  vast 
and  the  volume  of  documents  so  great  that  it  would  be  physically 
impossible  for  the  Historical  Section  to  handle  them.  The  plan 
has  been  adopted,  therefore,  of  requesting  each  of  the  various  logistic 
offices  and  bureaus  of  the  department  to  preserve  its  own  documents 
and  to  write  the  history  of  its  own  peculiar  activities.  Several 
monographs  of  this  nature  have  already  been  completed.  Since 
many  logistic  offices  were  abolished  soon  after  the  war,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  the  section  to  undertake  some  work  in  connection  with 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  157 

logistic  documents.  But  work  in  connection  with  the  operation 
files — that  is,  the  selection,  arrangement,  filing,  and  indexing  of 
documents  pertaining  directly  to  the  distribution,  employment,  and 
movements  of  ships  and  other  naval  combatant  units — is  expected 
to  constitute  the  principal  task  of  the  section. 

The  operations  material  is  divided  into  five  classes:  Telegrams, 
general  correspondence,  war  diaries,  docketed  papers,  and  statistics; 
and  in  each  of  these  the  geographical  chronological  system  of  ar- 
rangement is  followed  as  closely  as  practicable. 

The  intimate  relation  between  the  operations  of  the  American 
and  French  Armies  is  paralleled  by  a  similar  relation  between  the 
operations  of  the  American  and  British  Navies.  Much  research 
work  in  the  files  of  the  British  Admiralty  may  be  necessary  before 
American  naval  history  covering  the  Great  War  can  be  written 
accurately  and  comprehensively;  and  the  interdependence  of  the 
State,  War,  Navy,  and  other  departments  of  the  Government  renders 
further  reseach  at  home,  outside  of  the  Navy,  indispensable. 

General  plan  of  files,  Historical  Section,  Navy  Department. 
[Memorandum  prepared  by  Lieut,   (j.  g.)  P.  B.  Whelpley,  U.  S.  N.  R.  I*fl 

In  order  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  work  undertaken,  the  following  summary 
is  drawn  up  as  representing  the  work  that  has  been  done  and  the  scope  of  the 
work  projected : 

I.  Records. — The  primary  task  is  the  selection,  arrangement,  and  indexing  of 
those  papers  in  the  Navy  Department  files  which  have  historical  significance. 
Only  such  papers  shall  be  selected  for  the  historical  files  as  deal  directly  with  the 
naval  operations  of  the  United  States  Naval  Forces.  All  papers,  letters,  and 
telegrams  relating  to  operations  will  be  chosen  for  the  collection,  no  matter 
whether  the  individual  paper  may  seem  of  importance  or  not.  The  papers 
selected  consist  of  several  classes,  each  of  which  may  be  handled  in  a  slightly 
different  way.  These  classes  are:  (1)  General  correspondence  and  reports; 
(2)  cables  and  telegrams;  (3)  war  diaries;  (4)  documents  and  special  reports; 
(5)  statistical  and  related  matters. 

1.  General  correspondence  and  reports  are  filed  in  three  ways — by  areas,  by 
subjects,  and  by  dates. 

(a)  The  area  files  are  divided  into  six  series,  and  letters  are  filed,  in  general, 
according  to  the  date  of  the  event  referred  to  in  the  letter,  if  the  matter  dealt 
with  is  an  active  operation ;  or  according  to  the  date  of  the  letter  if  the  subject 
of  the  letter  relates  to  plans,  policies,  or  general  discussions  of  some  feature  of 
the  military  situation. 

(&)  The  subject  files  are  divided  into  19  groups,  and  are  arranged  as  in  the 
area  files,  chronologically,  according  to  the  date  of  the  event  to  which  reference 
is  made. 

(c)  The  chronological  files  are  divided  into  two  classes — (1)  letters,  and  (2) 
cables  and  telegrams.  These  are  not  yet  complete,  but  expansion  is  always  pos- 
sible by  the  copying  of  matter  on  hand  in  other  files. 

2.  Cables  and  telegrams  will  be  filed  in  three  ways — chronologically,  by 
areas,  and  by  subjects.  In  the  subject  file,  cables  and  telegrams  are  filed  with 
letters  and  reports,  but  in  the  area  and  chronological  files  they  are  separate. 


158  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

3.  War  diaries. — From  these  diaries  there  has  been  made  up  a  special  chrono- 
logical diary  by  days  on  cards.  In  addition  to  this  card  system  the  war  diaries 
are  being  bound  up  intact  and  in  such  a  way  as  seems  most  convenient  for 
future  reference. 

4.  General  files— Documents,  reports,  and  special  papers. — In  addition  to  the 
papers  maintained  in  the  historical  chronological  collection  a  file  of  documents 
and  special  reports  of  various  kinds  is  being  made.  Those,  for  example,  of  in- 
telligence publications  relating  to  war  operation  are  being  included  in  this  de- 
partment of  the  collection  and  appropriately  indexed.  There  is  also  included  a 
complete  set  of  such  papers,  as  follows : 

(a)   Weekly  reports  of  force  commander,  European  waters,  to  Washington, 
(o)  Weekly  reports  from  the  detachment  commanders. 

(c)  Daily  information  bulletins. 

(d)  Force  instructions. 

(e)  Circular  letters. 

(f)  Monthly  roster  of  officers. 

(g)  Weekly  staff  memoranda,  heads  of  sections. 
(h)  Admiralty  daily  reports  of  operations. 

(i)  French  daily  antisubmarine  bulletin. 

(j)  Force  commander's  daily  memorandum  of  admiralty  conferences. 
In  addition  to  those  named,  there  will  be  a  number  of  others  of  a  similar 
character. 

5.  Statistical. — Statistical  and  related  matter  is  being  collected  and  indexed 
thoroughly,  and  it  is  hoped  that  this  class  will  form  a  useful  part  of  the 
historical  files. 

II.  Indexes. — The  value  of  the  historical  collection  will  depend  largely  upon 
the  completeness  of  the  various  indexes  which  shall  be  made.  So  far  as  it  is 
possible  to  predict,  these  indexes  should  consist  of  the  following  : 
(1)  A  cross-reference  subject  index;  (2)  a  chronological  index  of  events; 
(3)  an  alphabetical  index  of  events;  (4)  a  general  index  of  cables  and  tele- 
grams. 

1.  For  each  series  of  papers  there  has  been  compiled  a  general  cross-reference 
subject  index.  The  headings  under  which  subjects  are  indexed  have  been 
made  a  matter  of  careful  study  in  order  to  insure  uniformity  and  completeness 
in  the  indexing  method.  The  matter  has  been  arranged  under  several  subject 
headings,  and  under  appropriate  subheadings  so  as  to  facilitate  reference  to 
all  papers  included  in  the  collection  relating  to  any  subject  on  which  infor- 
mation may  be  desired.  This  index  is  maintained  on  cards  and  includes  ref- 
erences to  all  general  correspondence,  telegrams,  war  diaries,  special  reports, 
statistical  data,  and  to  any  other  matter,  such  as  printed  documents  which 
may  be  included  in  the  historical  collection.  In  this  way  it  should  be  suf- 
ficiently complete  to  permit  one  at  a  glance  to  determine  exactly  what  informa- 
tion is  available  concerning  any  particular  operation  or  event. 

2.  The  chronological  diary  of  naval  events  of  the  war  prepared  by  Lieut. 
Whelpley  is  being  enlarged  both  on  paper  and  on  cards,  the  former  bound  ac- 
cording to  months,  in  temporary  bindings. 

3.  The  alphabetical  index  of  events  is  the  complement  of  the  chronological 
diary,  furnishing  under  names  of  persons,  and  vessels,  and  events,  the  same 
information  given  therein  under  dates.  These  together  should  constitute  a 
quick  reference  to  data  pertaining  to  the  Navy  in  the  war. 

4.  The  indexes  of  cables  and  telegrams  sent  from  the  Navy  Department  to 
London  headquarters,  and  from  the  London  headquarters  to  the  Navy  De- 
partment, have  already  been  prepared. 


ACTIVITIES   DURING   THE   WORLD   WAR.  159 

UNITED  STATES  MARINE  CORPS. 

By  Maj.  Edwin  N.  McClellan,  Officer  in  Charge,  Historical  Division,  United 

States  Marine  Corps. 

While  the  historical  work  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps  began 
systematically  on  September  8,  1919,  when  the  Historical  Division 
of  the  corps  was  officially  established  under  Maj.  Edwin  N.  Mc- 
Clellan, considerable  progress  was  made  prior  to  that  date. 

Early  in  1918  Maj.  Theodore  H,  Low,  in  addition  to  his  duties  as 
the  recruiting  officer  stationed  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  personnel  of  his  recruiting  office,  voluntarily  gath- 
ered certain  historical  material  relating  to  the  Marine  Corps. 

On  February  28,  1919,  Maj.  Edwin  N.  McClellan  was  detached 
from  Marine  Corps  headquarters  and  directed  to  proceed  to  France 
and  report  to  the  commanding  general  of  the  American  Expedition- 
ary Forces  for  assignment  to  duty  as  historical  officer  for  the  Marine 
Corps  for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  himself  with  all  matters  of 
historical  interest  to  marines.  Arriving  at  Chaumont,  France,  on 
March  13,  1919,  Maj.  McClellan  received  orders  attaching  him  to  the 
historical  section,  General  Staff,  general  headquarters,  American 
Expeditionary  Forces. 

Maj.  McClellan  divided  his  work  into  two  general  divisions :  First, 
a  study  of  all  data  on  file  at  general  headquarters,  Second  Division 
headquarters,  Fourth  Brigade  of  Marines  headquarters,  and  included 
organizations  of  marines,  and  the  records  of  the  services  of  supply ; 
and,  second,  a  careful  study  of  the  ground  in  France,  England,  Scot- 
land, Wales,  Ireland,  and  Germany,  where  marines  operated  or  were 
located.  He  was  temporarily  attached  to  the  Fourth  Brigade  of 
Marines,  Second  Division,  in  Germany,  from  March  16  to  25,  1919, 
and  June  21  to  27,  1919,  engaged  in  this  work.  On  various  occa- 
sions he  visited  the  marine  battlefields  in  the  Verdun  sector,  in  the 
Marne  salient,  near  Soissons,  Marbache  sector,  St.  Mihiel  salient, 
Blanc  Mont  in  the  Champagne,  and  the  Meuse-Argonne.  He  also 
visited  the  various  points  located  in  the  services  of  supply  where 
marines  were  serving  or  had  served. 

Maj.  McClellan  spent  from  May  19  to  June  6,  1919,  in  visiting 
localities  in  the  British  Islands,  such  as  Southampton  and  London, 
England;  Rosyth,  near  Edinburgh,  Scotland;  Scapa  Flow,  Orkney 
Islands;  Castletownbere,  Bantry  Bay,  Ireland;  and  Cardiff,  Wales, 
where  marines  had  served  either  on  board  ship  or  ashore  with  the 
Navy. 

On  August  6, 1919,  Maj.  McClellan  sailed  from  Brest  and  reported 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  August  20,  1919. 

On  August  23,  1919,  the  acting  adjutant  and  inspector  directed 
that  the  Historical  Division  of  the  adjutant  and  inspectors  de- 


160  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

partment  be  established  and  assigned  Maj.  McClellan  to  duty  as 
official  in  charge. 

On  September  8,  1919,  the  major  general  commandant  issued 
Marine  Corps  Orders,  No.  53.  This  general  order  officially  estab- 
lished the  Historical  Division  with  duties  outlined  as  follows: 

(a)  To  establish  historical  archives  which  shall  be  the  deposi- 
tory for  all  material  of  a  historical  nature;  that  is,  material  from 
which  administrative  value  has  disappeared. 

(b)  To  prepare  a  history  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps  for 
period  of  the  World  War. 

(c)  To  revise  and  bring  up  to  date  the  history  of  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps. 

Archives,  including  original  documents  and  information  from 
1775  to  the  present  date,  were  accordingly  established  and  the  work 
commenced  on  the  preparation  of  a  history  for  the  World  War. 
This  work  progressed  so  favorably  that  on  November  26,  1919,  a  brief 
history  called  "The  United  States  Marine  Corps  in  the  World  War", 
was  published  preliminary  to  the  final  and  detailed  history  of  the 
United  States  Marine  Corps  during  the  World  War  in  course  of 
preparation.  The  first  edition  of  this  book,  consisting  of  50,000  copies 
having  become  exhausted,  the  major  general  commandant  directed 
that  a  second  edition  of  100,000  copies,  revised  to  as  late  a  date  as 
practicable,  be  prepared  and  published. 

In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  history,  the  Historical  Divi- 
sion has  prepared  and  had  published  in  various  service  magazines 
many  articles  referring  to  the  history  of  the  marines  in  the  World 
War  and  in  prior  periods. 

The  work  of  revising  and  amplifying  the  present  history  of  the 
United  States  Marine  Corps  is  progressing  steadily  and  within  two 
years  a  history  of  the  corps  from  1775  to  date  will  be  published  in 
several  volumes. 

STATE  DEPARTMENT. 

By  Gaillard  Hunt. 

In  September,  1918,  Secretary  Lansing  appointed  Gaillard  Hunt, 
special  officer  of  the  Department  of  State,  to  undertake  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  State  Department's  history  of  the  war.  A  small  bureau 
was  organized  and  the  work  has  been  continuously  in  progress  since 
his  appointment.  The  scope  of  the  work  is  illustrated  by  the  title 
"The  history  of  the  World  War  as  shown  by  the  records  of  the 
Department  of  State."  While  no  printing  has  as  yet  been  under- 
taken, several  volumes  of  the  work  are  ready  for  the  printer.  The 
plan  contemplates  a  narrative  account  followed  by  the  documents 
(all  from  the  State  Department's  records)  upon  which  the  narra- 
tive is  based.    The  work  begins  with  the  assassination  of  the  Arch- 


ACTIVITIES   DURING    THE   WORLD   WAR.  161 

dulce  Ferdinand,  followed  by  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  Europe; 
the  repatriation  and  protection  of  American  citizens  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war;  the  custody  of  the  interests  of  the  belligerents  by  Ameri- 
can diplomatic  and  consular  officers;  this  Government's  peace  pro- 
posals; contraband  of  war  and  neutral  rights;  progress  of  the  war, 
etc.  How  many  volumes  will  be  required  for  the  completion  of  the 
work  can  not  at  this  date  be  prognosticated. 

THE  NATIONAL  BOARD  FOR  HISTORICAL  SERVICE. 

By  Waldo  G.  Leland. 

ORIGINS  AND  ORGANIZATION. 

The  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  was  one  of  the  organiza- 
tions— the  one  most  centrally  located — which  grew  out  of  the  desire 
and  effort  of  historical  scholars  to  render  useful  public  service  during 
(he  war.  The  idea  of  the  board  was  evolved  in  the  course  of  discus- 
sions by  a  small  group  in  Washington  during  the  first  weeks  of  April, 
1917,  and  was  presented  to  a  larger  group  in  the  form  of  an  invitation 
from  Dr.  J.  F.  Jameson,  director  of  the  department  of  historical  re- 
search in  the  Carnegie  Institution,  to  attend  a  conference  in  Wash- 
ington on  April  28.     The  object  of  the  conference  was  thus  stated : 

The  problem  is  one  wbich  has  no  doubt  presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  every 
history  man  in  the  country.  Many  of  them  would  doubtless  be  glad  to  spend 
a  good  deal  of  time  in  public  service  in  war  time,  and  most  of  all  in  service 
appropriate  to  their  special  acquirements,  but  are  not  in  the  way  of  hearing  of 
useful  tasks  that  they  could  undertake. 

Our  thought  is  that  if  the  questions  involved  could  be  immediately  considered 
in  a  preliminary  way,  by  an  informal  conference  of  a  dozen  members  of  the 
profession  representing  different  regions  of  the  country  and  different  aspects  of 
history — American,  European,  economic,  diplomatic — an  organization  might  be 
devised  by  which  all  this  store  of  competence  and  patriotic  good  will,  instead 
of  running  to  waste  or  lying  untouched,  might  be  systematically  drawn  upon  to 
meet  actual  needs,  felt  or  unfelt,  of  the  Government  or  the  public. 

The  conference  thus  called  was  held  in  the  offices  of  the  department 
of  historical  research  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  on  April  28  and  29.2 
A  docket  has  been  drawn  up  which  stated  the  problem  of  the  con- 
ference to  be  as  follows: 

(A)  To  provide  a  means  for  placing  the  historical  scholarship  of  the  coun- 
try at  the  service  of  the  Government. 

(B)  To  utilize  historical  scholarship  for  patriotic  and  educational  ends,  and 
to  enable  it  to  do  its  part  in  providing  the  general  public  with  that  fund  of 
accurate  knowledge  which  is  an  essential  basis  of  intelligent  opinion. 

»The  following  were  present  during  all  or  part  of  the  conference:  J.  F.  Jameson,  who 
acted  as  chairman ;  W.  G.  Leland,  who  acted  as  secretary ;  Guy  S.  Ford,  Frederic  L. 
Paxson,  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin,  Henry  B.  Bourne,  Frederick  J.  Turner,  George  M.  Dutcher, 
Charles  D.  Hazeu,  Charles  H.  Hull,  James  T.  Shotwell,  Albert  E.  McKinley,  Gaillard 
Hunt,  John  C.  Fitzpatrick,  H.  Barrett  Learned,  Edmund  C.  Burnett,  Victor  Clark,  Thomaa 
W.  Page,  and  Edward  G.  Lowry. 

25066°— 23 11 


162  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL   ASSOCIATION. 

(C)  To  secure  the  interests  of  history  and  of  historical  students  by  promol 
ins  the  intelligent  collection  and  preservation  of  historical  materials,  and  i: 
other  ways. 

In  the  course  of  the  ensuing  discussion  it  soon  became  clear  tha 
historians  in  all  parts  of  the  country  had  had  the  problem,  as  pre 
sented  to  the  conference,  very  much  on  their  minds.  The  Mississipp 
Valley  Historical  Association,  meeting  two  days  before,  had  adopte< 
resolutions  urging  that  "  means  be  taken  by  the  Government  of  th 
United  States  to  facilitate  the  sound  historical  instruction  of  th 
people  of  the  United  States  to  the  end  that  a  correct  public  opinio] 
with  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  that  have  made  for  our  freedom  anc 
democracy  in  the  past  may  stand  stubbornly  in  our  struggle  for  th 
maintenance  of  those  principles  in  the  future."  The  department  o 
history  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  had  drawn  up,  for  discussioi 
in  the  conference,  a  memorandum  outlining  the  organization  anc 
functions  of  a  "bureau  of  historical  information"  to  be  c'reate< 
under  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  the  general  aim  o 
which  should  be  "  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  a  correct  public  opinion 
to  advise  departments  of  Government  needing  historical  data,  t< 
provide  accurate  data  for  writers  and  journalists,  and  to  coordinate 
existing  historical  agencies."  At  Columbia  University  an  organ! 
zation  of  the  faculty  had  already  been  effected  and  had  commence* 
the  publication  of  a  series  of  "  Columbia  war  pamphlets,"  the  con* 
tents  of  which,  however,  were  not  confined  to  historical  material 
These  examples  but  serve  to  illustrate  the  intense  desire  of  historica' 
scholars  to  find  some  way  of  rendering  effective  service  of  the  nature 
for  which  their  studies  and  special  knowledge  qualified  them. 

The  conference  devoted  its  attention  principally  to  the  considera 
tion  of  the  various  kinds  of  service  most  needed  and  of  the  mos(i 
effective  means  and  organization  for  their  performance.  Each  on 
present  stated  what  he  and  his  colleagues  conceived  to  be  most  expe 
dient  in  the  region  which  he  represented ;  Mr.  Arthur  Bullard  pre 
sented  the  views  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  as  to  th<: 
various  ways  in  which  its  work  could  be  furthered  by  historica 
scholars ;  Mr.  Geoffrey  Butler,  of  the  British  High  Commission,  wh< 
was  present  for  a  short  time,  explained  what  British  scholars  hac 
been  able  to  do  along  the  lines  under  consideration,  and  Mr.  Edwarc 
G.  Lowry,  experienced  journalist  and  writer,  made  valuable  sug 
gestions  as  to  practical  methods  of  reaching  the  public.  As  the  dis 
cussion  progressed  there  appeared  to  be  a  striking  agreement  as  t( 
the  needs  which  historical  scholars  might  serve  to  satisfy.  Thest 
were  conceived  of  as,  first,  the  education  of  public  opinion  with  re 
spect  to  the  deep-lying  causes  and  fundamental  issues  of  the  wai 
and  the  reasons  for  American  participation  in  it;  second,  the  pres 
entation  of  past  national  experience  in  so  far  as  such  experience 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  163 

night  furnish  useful  lessons  for  application  in  the  present 
emergency;  third,  the  supply  of  technical  services  to  the  Govern- 
ment; and  fourth,  the  assurance  for  the  benefit  of  future  historians 
Df  the  preservation  of  the  documentary  and  other  material  essential 
for  recording  the  history  of  the  present  time. 

As  to  the  most  effective  methods  of  meeting  these  needs  there  was  a 
variety  of  opinion.  For  the  first  two,  chiefly  educational  in  char- 
acter, suggestions  were  made  respecting  the  supply  of  material, 
largely  in  the  form  of  popular  historical  articles,  to  the  daily  and 
periodical  press,  the  publication  of  series  of  small  pamphlets  or  even 
of  books,  the  organization  of  lecture  courses,  and  especially  the  pro- 
vision of  instruction  in  schools  and  colleges.  It  was  also  suggested 
that  the  compilation  of  reliable  reading  lists  respecting  the  war  for 
the  use  of  public  libraries  would  furnish  a  guidance  much  needed 
and  sought  for  at  the  present  moment. 

For  the  third,  the  supply  of  technical  service  to  the  Government, 
it  was  clear  that  future  developments  would  determine  the  nature 
of  such  services  and  the  most  appropriate  methods  of  rendering  them. 
Preliminary  inquiries  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  of  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  and  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information 
made  it  appear  that  aid  to  the  Government  would  probably  take 
the  form  of  cooperation  with  the  last  two.  As  to  the  fourth  need 
to  be  met,  the  collection  and  preservation  of  material  for  use  in 
future  research,  it  was  evident  that  this  object  would  be  accom- 
iplished  indirectly  through  suggestions  to  existing  organizations  and 
•institutions,  such  as  libraries  and  historical  societies  and  other 
agencies,  and  through  watchfulness  with  respect  to  the  archives  of 
the  Government— Federal,  State,  and  local— especially  the  records 
of  the  various  branches  of  war  administration  already  created  or 
likely  to  be  developed  in  the  future. 

The  form  of  organization  best  suited  to  render  the  services  which 
have  been  indicated,  most  representative  of  the  historical  profes- 
sion and  most  likely  to  inspire  public  confidence,  was  a  matter  that 
(was  long  and  earnestly  discussed.  Although  the  American  His- 
ttorical  Association  was  represented  in  the  conference  by  some  of 
lits  officers  and  councilors,  these  had  no  authority  to  establish  a 
[war  organization  of  any  sort  in  the  name  of  the  association.  Indeed, 
;it  was  the  feeling  of  some,  perhaps  of  most  present,  that  the  nature 
of  the  situation  required  that  each  one  taking  part  in  the  work  of 
•the  new  organization  should  do  so  as  an  individual  scholar  engaging 
ino  other  responsibility  than  his  own.  It  was  felt  that  no  group 
could  represent  the  historical  profession  in  any  formal  way,  but 
I  only  those  members  of  it  who  sympathized  with  the  purposes  of 
the  group  and  who  accorded  it  their  support.  It  was  realized  that 
the  new  organization  must  necessarily  be  informal  and  unofficial, 


164  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

without  authority  except  such  as  it  might  acquire  through  deserving 
and  gaining  the  support  of  historical  scholars  and  the  confidence  of 
the  public.  At  the  same  time  the  possibility  that  the  American  His- 
torical Association  might  think  best  to  substitute  some  other  form 
of  organization  was  not  lost  sight  of  and  provision  was  made  for 
such  an  eventuality. 

With  these  considerations  in  mind  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : 

As  an  emergency  measure,  to  serve  until  action  by  the  American  Historical 
Association,  the  undersigned,  meeting  In  Washington  upon  invitation  by  the 
Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington  through  its  department  of  historical  re-, 
search,  have  adopted  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved : 

I.  That  there  be  formed  a  National  Board  for  Historical  Service. 

II.  That  the  headquarters  of  the  board  shall  be  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

III.  That  the  purposes  of  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  shall  be : 
(a)  To  facilitate  the  coordination  and  development  of  historical  activities 

in  the  United  States  in  such  a  way  as  to  aid  the  Federal  and  the  State  Govern- 
ments through  direct  personal  service  or  through  affiliation  with  their  various 
branches. 

(o)  To  aid  in  supplying  the  public  with  trustworthy  information  of  historical 
or  similar  character  through  the  various  agencies  of  publication,  through  the  < 
preparation  of  reading  lists  and  bibliographies,  through  the  collection  of  his-  | 
torical  material,  and  through  the  giving  of  lectures  and  of  systematic  instruc- 
tion, and  in  other  ways. 

(c)  To  aid,  encourage,  and  organize  State,  regional,  and  local  committees, 
as  well  as  special  committees  for  the  furtherance  of  the  above  ends,  and  to 
cooperate   with   other   agencies   and   organizations,   especially   in   the   general  ' 
field  of  social  studies. 

IV.  That  the  board  shall  be  composed  of  at  least  nine  members  who  shall  I 
select  a  chairman,  vice  chairman,  secretary,  and  treasurer  from  their  own  num- 
ber, and  that  the  said  board  shall  have  power  to  add  to  its  membership,  to  fill 
vacancies,  to  appoint  advisory  and  associate  members,  to  organize  affiliated 
or  subsidiary  boards  of  committees,  to  receive  and  disburse  moneys,  and  to 
perform  such  other  acts  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
purposes  herein  stated. 

V.  That  the  board,  until  further  action  by  itself  in  conformity  with  these 
resolutions,  shall  be  composed  of  the  following :  Victor  S.  Clark,  of  Washington ; 
Robert  D.  W.  Connor,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C. ;  Carl  Russell  Fish,  of  Madison,  Wis. ; 
Charles  D.  Hazen,  of  New  York  City;  Charles  H.  Hull,  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y. ; 
Gaillard  Hunt,  of  Washington ;  Waldo  G.  Leland,  of  Washington ;  James  T. 
Shotwell,  of  New  York  City ;  Frederick  J.  Turner,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Adopted  at  Washington,  D.  C.  April  29, 1917 : 

Henry  E.  Bourne.  H.  Barrett  Learned. 

Edmund  C.  Burnett.  Waldo  G.  Leland. 

Victor  S.  Clark.  Albert  E.  McKinley. 

George  M.  Dutches.  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin. 

Guy  S.  Ford.  Thomas  Walker  Page. 

Charles  D.  Hazen.  Frederic  L.  Paxson. 

Charles  H.  Hull.  James  T.  Shotwell. 

Gaillard  Hunt.  Frederick  J.  Turner. 
J.  Franklin  Jameson. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  165 

The  first  effort  of  the  board  thus  created  was  directed  to  enlisting 
the  support  of  the  members  of  the  historical  profession,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  securing  from  these  latter  information  respecting  the 
state  of  public  opinion  and  suggestions  as  to  the  kinds  of  service 
most  needed.  Accordingly  the  following  circular  letter  was  sent  on 
May  1,  1917,  to  165  historical  scholars  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  in- 
forming them  of  the  organization  of  the  board  and  of  its  purposes, 
and  asking  for  information  and  suggestions: 

Last  Saturday,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  extended  through 
its  department  of  historical  research,  a  score  of  students  of  history  gathered 
in  Washington  and,  after  discussing  what  such  men  might  do  in  the  present 
emergency,  elected  a  "  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,"  with  head- 
quarters here.  This  is  a  voluntary  and  unofficial  organization  of  individuals 
spontaneously  formed  in  the  hope  that  through  it  the  store  of  competence  and 
patriotic  good  will  possessed  by  the  history  men  of  the  country,  instead  of 
running  in  part  to  waste,  or  even  lying  untouched,  may  eventually  be  drawn 
upon  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  public  or  of  the  Government.  To  that  end  the 
board,  as  a  first  step  toward  preparedness,  both  for  continuing  war  and  for 
eventual  peace,  takes  occasion  to  solicit  the  cooperation  of  interested  persons, 
and  the  present  letter  is  to  invite  from  you  such  advice  and  suggestions  as 
you  may  care  to  contribute.  The  organization  of  subsidiary  State  or  local 
committees  to  work  under  the  direction  of  the  board  is  not,  so  far  as  we  are 
now  informed,  desirable,  and  it  is  understood  that  in  cooperating  with  us 
for  any  of  the  foregoing  purposes  you  will  be  acting,  as  we  did,  upon  your  in- 
dividual responsibility,  and  that  the  function  of  the  board  will  be,  for  the 
present,  to  serve  as  a  coordinating  body  between  voluntary  workers  in  the 
common  cause. 

The  generalness  of  this  statement  is  sufficient  indication  that  much  remains 
to  be  done  in  determining  the  ends  toward  which,  and  not  less  in  ascertaining 
the  material  devices  and  the  personal  means  through  which,  such  voluntary 
work  may  be  performed. 

But  it  appears  that  a  survey  of  the  situation  and  needs  of  the  country  in 
this  respect,  as  they  present  themselves  to  the  observation  of  history  men  in 
various  regions,  is  one  of  the  preliminary  steps,  and  it  is  for  cooperation  in 
this  that  we  first  appeal  to  you. 

Among  the  matters  concerning  which  your  opinion  in  as  definite  a  form  as 
possible  is  especially  desired  are : 

(1)  What  is  the  attitude  of  people,  or  of  various  classes  of  people,  in  your 
region  toward  the  participation  of  the  United  States  in  the  war?  Are  our 
purposes  understood?  As  understood,  are  (hey  approved?  Where  approved, 
what  can  be  done  to  keep  popular  attention  fixed  upon  them,  to  the  end  that  our 
national  idealism  shall  not  perish  in  the  conflict  or  yield  to  admiration  of 
courage  or  of  efficiency  as  ends  in  themselves?  If  our  national  purposes  as 
understood  in  any  degree  fail  of  approval,  by  what  argument,  anywise  historical 
in  complexion,  can  they  be  so  explained  as  to  secure  approval? 

(2)  How  can  such  arguments  or  appeals  be  most  effectually  presented,  by 
books  or  pamphlets,  through  the  metropolitan  or  the  local  press,  by  speakers, 
or  otherwise? 

(3)  What  opportunities  have  you  personally  to  procure  the  dissemination  of 
appropriate  matter,  e.  g.,  through  your  local  press,  through  lectures  to  schools 
or  to  the  general  public,  through  libraries,  or  historical  societies?  Do  you  know 
any  persons  of  historical  knowledge  and  training  in  your  region  who  have  real 


166  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

qualifications,  either  by  experience  in  newspaper  writing  or  in  public  speaking, 
for  disseminating  such  information,  and  who  could  and  would  give  time  to 
doing  it? 

(4)  Can  you  reach,  or  suggest  some  way  of  reaching,  teachers  before  their 
vacations  begin?  Do  you  know  of  any  summer  schools,  largely  attended  by 
teachers,  the  management  of  which  would  probably  welcome  lectures  of  such  a 
character  in  case  the  board  can  suggest  appropriate  lecturers? 

(5)  In  the  conference  many  suggestions  were  made  of  subjects  upon  which 
useful  articles  might  be  prepared.  The  following  may  be  instanced  by  way  of 
example : 

A.  Historical  aspects  of  war  problems  in  the  United  States,  e.  g.,  raising 
and  maintaining  armies ;  exercise  of  war  powers  by  the  Federal  Government ; 
war  taxation ;  economic  adjustments ;  suppression  of  disorder ;  problems  of 
transportation;  supply  and  distribution  of  food,  especially  in  the  Confederate 
States;  etc. 

B.  International  and  foreign  problems,  particularly  those  likely  to  influence 
American  policy,  e.  g.,  Irish  questions;  conceptions  of  freedom  of  the  seas; 
open  door  in  China ;  enforcement  of  treaties ;  restatement  of  Monroe  Doctrine ; 
neutralization ;  American  interests  in  Turkey ;  etc. 

(6)  Will  you  not  make  suggestions  of  other  subjects,  and  possible  writers? 

(7)  Have  you  knowledge  of  matter  already  in  print  (outside  of  such  gen- 
erally known  material  as  would  be  noticed  in  the  American  Historical  Review) 
that  seems  to  be  effective  for  such  purposes?  Where,  specifically,  may  it  be 
found? 

(8)  Do  you  know  of  any  collections  that  are  being  made  of  local  fugitive 
material  illustrative  of  the  war,  especially  of  the  attitude  of  sections  of  your 
community  or  region  toward  it?  Are  you  in  a  position  to  encourage  the  making 
of  such  collections?    Where  and  how? 

(9)  Do  you  know  of  any  funds  available  for  the  actual  and  necessary  ex- 
pense of  any  parts  of  such  an  undertaking  as  has  been  suggested,  either 
nationally  or  locally? 

Will  you  not  consult,  especially  as  to  regional  needs  and  probable  attitudes 
of  mind,  such  of  your  colleagues  or  acquaintances  as  may  be  able  to  give  use- 
ful advice  on  any  of  the  points  mentioned,  or  on  any  others  pertinent  to  the 
general  purposes  of  the  board,  and  send  the  results,  as  promptly  as  practicable, 
to  Waldo  G.  Leland,  secretary,  1133  Woodward  Building,  Washington,  D.  C? 

The  board  will  then  endeavor  to  draw  from  the  replies  a  statement  of  definite 
needs  and  possibilities,  and  will  presently  communicate  with  you  again. 

The  response  to  this  letter  was  most  encouraging ;  not  only  did  it 
indicate  an  almost  unanimous  approval  of  the  purposes  of  the  board 
and  give  promise  of  support  and  cooperation,  but  it  furnished  a 
large  body  of  information  relative  to  the  state  of  mind  of  the  coun- 
try and  the  needs  of  the  moment  as  well  as  a  variety  of  practical 
and  valuable  suggestions. 

Thus  fortified  the  board  was  in  a  position  to  formulate  the  policy 
which  was  to  guide  it  throughout  its  existence.  This  policy  may 
be  described  briefly  as  follows:  To  maintain  the  nonofficial  character 
of  the  board  as  a  group  of  individual  scholars  each  representing 
only  himself;  not  to  organize  branches  but  to  encourage  or  cooperate 
with  regional  or  local  groups  having  similar  objects  which  might 
be  created ;  to  maintain  a  close  contact  with  members  of  the  histori- 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  167 

cal  profession  in  all  parts  of  the  country  by  informing  them  fre- 
quently of  the  work  of  the  board  and  by  proposing  to  them  certain 
activities  or  calling  upon  them  for  services ;  not  to  express  opinions 
or  judgments  as  a  board  nor  to  attempt  to  establish  standards  of 
historical  orthodoxy;  not  to  publish  pamphlets,  articles,  or  books 
in  the  name  of  the  board,  but  to  leave  to  their  authors  full  responsi- 
bility for  all  publications  made  under  its  auspices  or  pursuant  to  its 
suggestions;  and,  finally,  to  cooperate  with  or  serve  the  Govern- 
ment in  such  ways  as  it  might  be  called  upon  to  do. 

The  activities  of  the  board  at  once  began  to  assume  a  varied  char- 
acter. It  is  not  easy  to  classify  them  all,  but  most  fall  into  one  or 
another  of  the  categories  of  research,  publications,  lectures,  educa- 
tion, Government  service,  and  preservation  of  war  records.  These 
categories  are  not  mutually  exclusive,  for  most  research,  for  ex- 
ample, was  undertaken  in  some  form  of  Government  service,  and 
the  publications  and  lectures  were  chiefly  of  an  educational  charac- 
ter ;  nor  are  they  completely  comprehensive,  for  there  were  numerous 
activities  of  a  miscellaneous  sort  which  can  not  be  classified.  They 
may  serve,  however,  as  a  cadre  for  the  following  account  of  the 
board's  work. 

RESEARCH. 

In  the  conferences  which  preceded  the  organization  of  the  board 
and  in  the  discussions  which  followed  it  was  clear  that  there  was  a 
general  feeling  among  historians  that  for  the  time  being  at  least 
activities  of  research  should  be  directed  to  matters  having  a  bearing 
upon  actual  problems  in  order  that  accurate  knowledge  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past  might  be  invoked  for  such  present  guidance  as 
it  should  afford.  The  resources  of  the  board  were  not  such  as  to 
enable  it  to  carry  out  for  itself  any  elaborate  program  of  research; 
it  was  obliged,  with  few  exceptions,  to  content  itself  with  encourage- 
ment and  suggestion.  To  this  end  a  letter  was  composed  and  sent 
(May  11,  1917)  to  some  75  or  more  professors  of  history,  most  of 
whom  had  charge  of  graduate  or  research  courses,  in  which  the 
problem  was  thus  presented: 

European  historians  have  long  had  the  quickening,  though  at  times  dan- 
gerous, consciousness  that  their  modern  historical  problems  were  instinct  with 
life;  that  their  topics  for  research  involved  sensitive  international  relations, 
were  live  wires  connecting  with  stores  of  dynamite,  were  liable  at  any  moment 
to  pass  from  history  into  present  action. 

Are  not  American  historians  learning  that  some  of  the  important  facts  in  our 
democratic  development  are  more  intimately  connected  with  present  urgent 
choices  of  domestic  policy  and  foreign  relations  than  had  been  commonly  ap- 
preciated? 

Is  it  not  possible  that  in  research  work  during  the  present  summer  and 
winter,  at  least,  we  ought  to  make  fuller  use  of  our  realization  that  out  of 
history  there  are  issues  of  life  to-day? 


168  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Can  we  not  give  greater  zest  to  our  research  work,  both  in  seminary  and 
as  individuals  by  dealing  with  phases  which  are  directly  or  indirectly  connected 
with  present  problems?  Shall  we  not  feel  better  justified  in  following  the 
scholar's  calling  if  by  our  investigations  we  furnish  material  useful  to  Amer- 
icans in  determining  their  decisions  in  the  great  issues  which  now  confront 
them  and  which  will,  in  changing  forms,  confront  them  for  a  considerable 
future? 

These  are  matters,  not  only  of  presenting  the  results  of  previous  study  and 
writing;  they  are  matters  for  new  and  unforeseen  adjustments  of  old  to  new; 
for  research,  and  for  research  under  the  pressure  of  instant  demand  for  in- 
formation. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  important  to  be  able  to  furnish  a  background  for 
news  items.  Our  board  is  already  in  a  position  where  we  shall  often  have 
advance  information  as  to  what  will  be  news  in  certain  lines  some  time  before 
the  event.  This  advance  information  would  give  a  student  familiar  with  the 
field  and  bibliography  of  the  suggested  subject  time  to  produce  an  article  which, 
though  not  final,  will  yet  possess  an  intimacy  of  touch  and  an  orientation  im- 
possible to  a  reporter     *     *     * . 

In  the  second  place  there  are  certain  aspects  of  history  with  which  the  public 
should  be  familiar,  but  the  significance  of  which  is  apparent  only  to  one  with 
a  long  perspective.  In  such  cases  the  historians  of  the  country  should  take  the 
initiative,  not  waiting  for  the  press. 

In  his  speech  at  the  Gridiron  Club  dinner,  in  Washington,  February  26,  1916, 
President  Wilson  showed  how  deeply  he  was  influenced  by  the  historical  mode 
of  approach  to  his  problem.     He  said : 

"  You  can  never  tell  your  direction  except  by  long  measurements.  You  can 
not  establish  a  line  by  two  posts;  you  have  got  to  have  three  at  least  to  know 
whether  they  are  straight  with  anything,  and  the  longer  your  line  the  more 
certain  your  measurement.  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  to  determine  how 
the  future  of  the  United  States  is  going  to  be  projected,  and  that  is  by  looking 
backward  and  seeing  which  way  the  lines  ran  which  led  up  to  the  present 
moment  of  power  and  of  opportunity.     There  is  no  doubt  about  that." 

The  historical  research  and  thought  of  the  country  should  surely  be  con- 
cerned with  this  work  of  surveying  American  tendencies  and  ideals.  It  is  im- 
portant for  us  to  know  what,  in  the  opinion  of  the  profession,  such  subjects  are, 
and  to  know  whether  they  are  being  studied,  and  if  so,  where.  If  they  are  be- 
ing neglected,  we  may  be  able  to  promote  their  study,  and  if  they  are  being 
studied,  we  are  in  a  position  to  bring  the  concentrated  results  before  the  public 
widely  over  the  country. 

The  third  function  of  research  is  one  in  connection  with  which  the  board  can 
do  little,  but  the  leaders  of  research  in  the  country  by  correspondence  and  inter- 
course may  do  much.  It  is  obvious  that  the  problem  of  world  reconstruction 
will  not  cease  to  be  vital  to  the  next  generation.  Not  in  detail  but  in  general, 
it  is  possible  to  foresee  the  kind  of  questions  which  it  will  ask  of  its  historians. 
Ought  not  a  good  proportion  of  the  young  scholars  in  our  seminaries  be  directed 
to  interest  themselves,  whatever  their  fields,  along  lines  which  may  contribute 
to  the  wise  solution  of  these  problems  which  will  be  the  pivot  of  politics  and 
legislation  during  their  lives?  An  illustration  may  be  made  in  the  fact  that 
the  devotion  and  skill  which  have  been  given  to  a  study  of  the  Napoleonic  wars, 
and  even  of  our  Civil  War,  have  yet  left  almost  untouched  many  subjects 
which  throw  most  direct  light  upon  the  difficulties  of  to-day.  Will  it  not  be, 
possible  for  us  to  do  something — we  all  realize  how  little  prophetic  we  are — 
to  make  this  loss  of  experience  as  slight  as  it  may  be  for  the  future? 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  169 

As  a  firat  step  will  you  not  write  the  board  any  ideas  you  may  have  on  the 
general  subject  and  any  contribution  you  may  be  prepared  to  make? 

After  we  receive  information,  we  shall  be  glad  to  communicate  with  you, 
noting  whether  certain  topics  seem  to  be  in  need  of  attention  by  historians. 
In  case  of  subjects  actually  under  study  we  shall  be  glad  to  be  of  use  in  giving 
a  national  currency  to  the  concentrated  historical  results.  Will  you  not  convey 
the  ideas  of  this  letter  to  such  of  your  colleagues  as  you  think  willing  and  able 
to  assist  in  the  work? 

It  is  difficult  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  results  of  this  letter.  In 
respect  to  furnishing  the  historical  background  for  news  items  they 
were  negligible,  for  the  board  never  developed  the  close  contact  with 
journalism  that  it  had  expected  in  the  early  days  of  its  existence  to 
make.  It  is  not  probable,  either,  that  the  immediate  course  of  seminar 
work  in  the  universities  was  much  affected;  it  is  not  easy  to  make 
sudden  changes  of  direction  and  in  any  event  most  able-bodied  mem- 
bers of  the  seminars  were  soon  engaged  in  quite  other  lines  of  effort 
in  the  officers'  training  camps.  Probably  the  letter  stimulated  indi- 
vidual research  and  production ;  certainly  the  war  period  was  marked 
by  a  large  output  of  historical  publications,  articles,  and  books  hav- 
ing a  bearing  upon  contemporary  events  and  issues.  A  number  of 
articles  suggested  by  the  board  were  published  in  the  American  His- 
torical Review  and  elsewhere,  and  the  board  secured  directty  some 
30  or  more  articles  for  the  Historical  Outlook,  in  addition  to  the 
documentary  materials  and  the  educational  or  pedagogical  articles 
of  a  suggestive  nature  wThich  it  also  contributed  to  the  latter  maga- 
zine. The  board  was  undoubtedly  a  factor  in  creating  the  atmos- 
phere which  favored  the  production  referred  to;  indeed,  one  of  the 
most  widely  read  books  of  the  period  was  by  a  member  of  the  board : 
"  Alsace-Lorraine  under  German  Rule,"  by  Charles  Downier  Hazen. 

The  board  took  a  more  active  part  in  the  publication  of  biblio- 
graphical aids  to  research.  A  list  of  articles  in  periodicals  relating 
to  the  war  was  prepared  by  Miss  Harriette  M.  Dilla,  who  offered 
her  services  in  the  summer  of  1917,  and  it  was  published  in  mimeo- 
graphed form  by  the  Library  of  Congress.  Profs.  G.  M.  Dutcher, 
A.  H.  Lybyer,  and  others  compiled  a  "  Selected  bibliography  of  the 
war  "  which  was  printed  in  the  Historical  Outlook  (then  the  History 
Teacher's  Magazine)  for  April,  1918.  An  expansion  of  this  bibli- 
ography, in  which  the  board  was  much  aided  by  Prof.  Ella  Lonn  of 
Goucher  College,  was  well  advanced  by  the  close  of  the  war  but  was 
not  completed.  Members  of  the  board  assisted  in  preparing  the 
bibliography  compiled  by  Prof.  T.  W.  Riker  and  published  by  the 
committee  on  special  training  and  education,  of  the  War  Department, 
(C.  e.  17,  Bibliography  no.  1)  for  use  in  the  war-issues  course  of 
the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps,  and  Dr.  Leo  F.  Stock  made  a 
digest  of  the  war  legislation  of  the  Sixty-fifth  Congress  and  a  calen- 
dar of  the  Executive  orders  relating  to  the  war,  the  first  of  these 


170  AMEKICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

compilations  being  published  in  the  Historical  Outlook  for  October, 
1919.  After  the  close  of  the  war  an  elaborate  bibliography  of  peace 
and  reconstruction,  prepared  by  Prof.  Joseph  Schafer,  the  vice 
chairman  of  the  board,  was  published  by  the  World  Peace  Founda- 
tion (League  of  Nations  Series,  II,  special  number). 

The  most  important  work  of  research  carried  on  by  the  board  or 
by  its  members  was  in  cooperation  with  the  so-called  "  House  In- 
quiry "  or  "  Peace  Inquiry,"  the  organization  which  under  Col.  Ed- 
ward M.  House  gathered  information  respecting  the  problems  which 
seemed  likely  to  come  up  for  consideration  at  the  Peace  Congress 
which  would  meet  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  The  Inquiry  had 
its  own  organization  and  the  members  of  the  board  who  belonged  to 
it  worked  as  individual  scholars  and  not  as  representatives  of  the 
board,  but  it  is  worth  noting  that  they  were  entrusted  with  some  of 
the  most  important  sections  of  the  Inquiry's  work.  Thus  Prof.  J.  T. 
Shotwell,  the  first  chairman  of  the  board,  was  an  administrative  of- 
ficer of  the  Inquiry ;  Prof.  Charles  H.  Haskins  directed  the  investiga- 
tion dealing  with  the  problem  areas  of  the  Western  Front,  Belgium, 
Luxembourg,  Alsace-Lorraine,  etc.,  in  which  Prof.  Wallace  Note- 
stein  also  took  part;  Prof.  A.  C.  Coolidge  conducted  research  in 
Russian  and  Polish  matters,  and  Prof.  Dana  C.  Munro  was  in  charge 
of  the  investigations  relating  to  the  Near  East. 

But  the  board  also  conducted  certain  researches  for  the  Inquiry  in 
its  corporate  capacity.  The  most  extensive  of  these  investigations 
took  the  form  of  compiling  a  compendium  of  the  diplomatic  history 
of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  since  1870.  This  work,  which  was  called 
for  upon  a  month's  notice,  was  directed  by  Professors  Frank  M. 
Anderson  and  Amos  S.  Hershey  who  secured  the  collaboration  of 
60  or  more  scholars.  The  result  of  this  cooperation  was  published 
by  the  Department  of  State:  Handbook  for  the  diplomatic  history 
of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  1870-1914  (Washington,  1918). 

Another  investigation  called  for  by  the  Inquiry  was  into  the  nature 
and  history  of  governments  less  than  sovereign,  which  was  conducted 
for  the  board  by  Profs.  W.  W.  Willoughby  and  Charles  G.  Fenwick 
in  cooperation  with  the  Institute  for  Government  Research. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

In  early  discussions  as  to  possible  activities  of  the  board  it  had 
seemed  that  publication  would  take  an  important  place.  Compre- 
hensive but  somewhat  vague  plans  were  entertained  for  supplying 
material  of  various  kinds  to  newspapers  and  periodicals,  of  estab- 
lishing a  series  of  pamphlets  or  small  books,  even  of  maintaining 
some  sort  of  a  periodical,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  many  diffi- 
culties, the  nature  of  which  may  be  readily  imagined,  opposed  the 
execution  of  such  ambitious  projects.     The  members  of  the  board 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE   WORLD  WAR.  171 

did  not  have  the  experience  in  practical  journalism  which  was  essen- 
tia] to  any  atempt  at  feeding  the  columns  of  the  daily  press.  Few 
members  of  the  historical  profession  were  in  the  habit  of  writing  for 
newspaper  publication  or  had  acquired  *that  style  of  literary  expres- 
sion which  seems  to  be  successful  in  American  journalism.  The  two 
or  three  articles  which  the  board  furnished  for  rewriting  and 
adaptation  to  newspaper  use  were  so  denatured  in  the  process  that 
there  was  little  encouragement  to  continue  the  practice. 

To  a  less  extent  the  same  difficulties  surrounded  the  publication 
of  magazine  articles.  It  had  been  thought  that  the  board  might 
maintain  a  sort  of  reservoir  of  materials  suitable  for  the  popular 
or  serious  periodicals,  and  a  tentative  arrangement  was  even  made 
with  one  of  the  standard  monthlies  whereby  the  board  was  to  supply 
a  certain  number  of  pages  of  material  for  each  issue,  but  the  board 
had  no  more  success  as  a  literary  agent  than  as  a  press  agency,  and 
wasted  little  time  in  fruitless  experimentation. 

It  was  realized  from  the  beginning  that  the  activities  of  the 
board  along  the  lines  mentioned,  even  if  successful,  must  be  largely 
supplemented  by  the  individual  and  unorganized  efforts  of  the 
members  of  the  historical  profession.  Accordingly,  the  following 
letter  of  May  13,  1917,  was  sent  to  some  225  men  and  women,  his- 
torians or  teachers  of  history,  in  all  parts  of  the  country : 

There  has  never  been  a  period  in  American  history  when  public  opinion  has 
needed  such  a  broad  foundation  of  unfamiliar  fact.  The  crisis  in  which  we 
are  now,  was  brought  upon  the  Nation  by  outside  forces  rather  than  by  in- 
ternal movements.  The  solution  of  the  present  situation  moreover  requires 
on  the  part  of  the  people  a  large  amount  of  fact  with  which  they  are  unac- 
customed to  deal. 

The  historian  knows  that  in  determining  the  public  opinion  of  the  moment 
as  well  as  that  of  to-morrow,  which  means  so  much  for  the  future,  the  resources 
of  human  experience  are  bound  to  be  drawn  upon  to  a  very  great  degree. 
He  knows  also  how  important  it  is  that  the  facts  furnished  to  the  people  shall 
be  genuine  and  the  interpretation  of  them  made  by  experts  rather  than  by 
quacks. 

At  no  time  in  our  history  has  the  historian  been  so  obviously  called  to  the 
immediate  service  of  the  Nation ;  the  formation  of  the  National  Board  for 
Historical  Service  is  an  effort  to  provide  a  medium  for  the  rendering  of  such 
service.  The  board,  however,  realizes  that  the  major  portion  of  the  work  must 
be  done  by  the  members  of  the  profession  acting  in  their  own  localities,  where 
the  influence  of  their  personality  is  an  established  factor. 

The  correspondence  which  this  board  has  already  had  with  members  of 
the  historical  profession  in  many  parts  of  the  country  reveals  an  encourag- 
ing realization,  on  the  part  of  historians,  of  their  responsibilities  and  oppor- 
tunities. We  And  that  in  many  cases  professors  and  teachers  are  giving 
special  courses  or  series  of  lectures  on  the  issues  of  the  present  moment; 
some  are  addressing  public  meetings,  clubs,  churches,  or  special  gatherings ; 
some  are  interesting  themselves  particularly  in  stimulating  the  teachers  of  the 
public  schools,  while  many  are  writing  special  articles  which  appear  in  cur- 
rent magazines  and  newspapers. 


1^2  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

It  seems  clear  to  us  that  the  local  press  affords  an  important  medium 
through  which  the  historian  may  render  a  most  useful  service.  By  making 
the  acquaintance  of  editors  and  reporters,  by  watching  the  columns  of  the 
local  newspapers  for  statements  that  in  the  interest  of  truth  should  be  con- 
troverted, by  offering  editorial "material,  by  writing  communications  or  special 
articles  of  historical  character  pertinent  to  immediate  questions,  and  by 
furnishing  the  correct  historical  background  for  many  items  of  current  news 
the  historian  may  exercise  a   salutary  influence  in  his  community. 

It  seems  to  us  that  this  is  a  time  when  all  the  accumulated  resources  of 
reputation,  information,  and  judgment  belong  to  the  Nation  and  should  be 
put  at  the  disposal  of  the  public. 

We  shall  be  glad  if  you  will  keep  us  informed  from  time  to  time  of  your 
own  and  of  other  activities  and  especially  if  you  will  make  such  suggestions 
as  may  occur  to  you,  in  order  that  the  board  may  serve  the  historical  profes- 
sion in  general  as  a  sort  of  clearing  house  of  information. 

The  resources  of  the  board  did  not  allow  it  to  embark  upon  any 
schemes  of  publication  of  its  own.  Plans  for  a  series  of  pamphlets 
were  much  discussed  but  it  was  early  determined,  as  a  part  of  the 
board's  policy  not  to  publish  or  edit  pamphlets  or  volumes.  If  the 
board  had  no  publications  of  its  own,  however,  it  took  an  active  part 
in  preparing  and  editing  the  series  of  pamphlets  issued  by  the  com- 
mittee on  public  information,  an  activity  which  will  be  described; 
below  as  a  part  of  the  Government  service  which  the  board  was 
called  upon  to  render. 

Furthermore,  the  board's  relation  with  the  Historical  Outlook,  the 
columns  of  which  were  placed  at  its  disposal  by  the  editor,  Dr.  Albert, 
E.  McKinley,  and  the  publishers,  the  McKinley   Publishing   Co., 
of  Philadelphia,  was  such  as  to  make  that  periodical,  for  the  time  j 
being,  almost  an  organ  of  the  board.     The  use  which  the  board  made/ 
of  these  facilities  was  chiefly  in  the  conduct  of  its  educational  work 
and  is  described  under  that  head.    The  single  publication  made  by  the 1 
board  as  such,  the  War  Readings,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Dana  C.  Munro 
(Scribner),  to  a  certain  extent  a  deviation  from  its  policy,  was  also  ; 
educational  in  character. 

During  the  last  months  of  the  board's  existence  the  vice  chairman 
was  authorized  to  secure  the  publication,  though  not  in  the  name  of 
the  board,  of  a  volume  of  essays  by  different  writers,  entitled,  "  Dem - 
ocracy  in  -Reconstruction."3 

LECTURING. 

In  the  field  of  lecturing  the  board  formulated  and  carried  out  a 
more  systematic  program  than  in  that  of  publications.  It  made  a 
canvass  of  the  historical  profession  in  order  to  ascertain  who  of  its 


•  F.  A.  Cleveland  and  Joseph  Schafer,  "  Democracy  and  Reconstruction "  (Boston, 
Houghton  Mifflin,  1919).  A  volume  of  23  essays  grouped  under  the  heads  "Ideals  of 
democracy,"  "After-war  social  problems,"  "After-war  labor  problems,"  "After-war  trans- 
portation problems,"  "After-war  political  problems."  The  introductory  essay  is  by  Prof. 
Schafer,  "  The  historical  background  of  reconstruction  in  America," 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  173 

members  were  able  to  deliver  lectures  in  the  various  summer  schools, 
particularly  in  the  schools  most  frequented  by  teachers,  and  suggested 
to  the  directors  of  these  schools,  through  the  Bureau  of  Education, 
that  lectures  on  the  issues  of  the  war  be  made  a  feature  of  the  summer 
program.  The  board  also  furnished  the  names  of  possible  lecturers, 
and  syllabi  of  lecturers  for  use  when  special  lecturers  were  not  avail- 
able, and  furnished  the  names  of  lecturers,  on  request,  to  such  or- 
ganizations as  the  community  chautauquas,  to  churches,  clubs,  so- 
cieties, etc. 

In  this  connection  should  be  mentioned  the  work  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Group  for  Historical  Service,  the  organization  of  which  grew 
out  of  suggestions  by  the  board,  and  which  cooperated  most  effectively 
with  the  latter.*  This  group  not  only  delivered  a  series  of  lectures  at 
Camp  Devens  under  the  auspices  of  the  board,  but  also  independently, 
a  large  number  of  lectures  in  the  towns  and  summer  resorts  of  New 
England. 

The  principal  project  of  lecturing  organized  and  carried  out  by 
the  board  was  the  delivery  of  5  illustrated  lectures  in  22  of  the 
major  training  camps.5  These  lectures  were  given  under  the  auspices 
of  the  educational  committee  of  the  War  Department's  Commission 
on  Training  Camp  Activities  and  with  the  material  aid  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Knights  of  Columbus.  A  large  number  of 
scholars  took  part  in  this  work,  which  required  in  many  cases  an 
extended  residence  in  camp.  Each  lecture  was  repeated  a  sufficient 
number  of  times  to  enable  all  men  who  wished  to  do  so  to  hear  it. 
The  board  provided  the  lantern  slides,  and  by  way  of  suggestion  an 
outline  of  each  lecture,  the  subjects  of  which  were  as  follows:  The 
warring  countries  and  their  geography;  The  growth  of  Germany 
and  of  German  ambitions ;  The  French  Eepublic  and  what  it  stands 
for ;  The  British  Empire  and  what  it  stands  for ;  How  the  war  came 
about  and  how  it  developed ;  The  American  democracy  and  the  war. 
In  some  cases  the  series  was  given  by  a  single  lecturer,  in  others 
by  several,  each  one  dealing  with  the  subject  with  which  he  was 
most  familiar.  This  activity  of  the  board  was  organized  and  carried 
out  by  Dr.  J.  F.  Jameson. 

In  the  late  spring  of  1917  the  board  received  a  request  from  the 
University  of  London  to  provide  a  lecturer  on  American  history  for 

*  The  New  England  Group  for  Historical  Service  was  composed  of  the  following,  some 
of  whom  were  also  members  of  the  national  hoard:  Arthur  1.  Andrews,  secretary;  H.  J. 
Ahern,  Warren  A.  Ault,  S.  P.  R.  Chadwick,  Samuel  L.  Conner,  A.  C.  Coolidge,  Theodore  F. 
Collier,  Irving  H.  Countryman,  Herbert  D.  Foster,  Rollin  M.  Gallagher,  A.  H.  Gilmer, 
Charles  H.  Haskins,  Roy  W.  Hatch,  J.  L.  Keegen,  A.  C  Lane,  Charles  R.  Lingley,  Leo  S. 
MeCollester,  C  H.  Mcllwain,  George  S.  Miller,  Theodore  Clarke  Smith,  Frederick  L. 
Thompson,  Mason  W.  Tyler. 

5  C&mps  Beauregard,  Custer,  Devens,  Dix,  Dodge,  Doniphan,  Fremont,  Funston,  Grant, 
Greene,  Jackson,  Lee,  Lewis,  Logan,  Mc Arthur,  McClellan,  Meade,  Oglethorpe,  Sheridan, 
Sherman,  Taylor,  Upton. 


174  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

its  summer  session.  This  the  board  was  unable  to  do  on  such  short 
notice,  but  in  the  course  of  correspondence  during  which  the  original 
invitation  was  much  broadened,  it  was  decided  that  a  lecturer 
should  be  sent  to  England  to  speak  on  American  history  and  Amer- 
ican participation  in  the  war,  before  the  universities  of  the  United 
Kingdom  and  Ireland.  For  this  mission  the  board,  having  secured 
from  various  sources6  the  requisite  funds,  selected  Prof.  Andrew 
C.  McLaughlin,  who  sailed  for  England  in  April,  1918,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Charles  Moore.  Professor  McLaughlin  delivered  lectures 
before  the  Universities  of  London,  Oxford,  Cambridge,  Eeading. 
Bristol,  Birmingham,  Sheffield,  Leeds,  Manchester,  Liverpool,  New- 
castle, Nottingham,  Exeter,  Southampton,  Bangor,  Cardiff,  Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow,  Aberdeen,  and  Dublin,  his  tour  having  been  ar- 
ranged by  Prof.  Arthur  P.  Newton,  of  Kings  College,  London.  He 
also  addressed  the  Eoyal  Historical  Society  and  gatherings  of  teach- 
ers of  history  in  London,  as  well  as  a  meeting  of  workingmen  in 
Walsall.7 

Another  series  of  lectures  arranged  by  the  board  was  delivered  by 
Prof.  George  M.  Wrong,  of  the  University  of  Toronto,  who, 
spoke  on  Canadian  history  and  institutions  before  the  summer; 
schools  of  Harvard,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Chicago,  North- 
western, and  Wisconsin  Universities  in  July  and  August,  1918. 

EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 

No  division  of  the  board's  work  was  more  varied  or  more  exten- 
sive in  scope  than  that  which  dealt  with  education.  Some  of  this' 
work  was  carried  on  indirectly,  some  of  it  in  cooperation  with  the; 
Bureau  of  Education,  and  some  of  it  by  the  board  in  its  own  name. 

In  May,  1917,  the  board  furnished  the  Bureau  of  Education  with 
the  text  of  a  letter  to  high-school  principals,  which  had  been  com 
posed  by  Prof.  Guy  Stanton  Ford  for  use  in  Minnesota,  urging  that 
the  approaching  commencement  exercises  be  directed  "  toward  an 
elevated  and  enlightening  discussion  of  the  faith  in  popular  govern- 
ment." This  was  distributed  by  the  bureau  as  its  "  Civic  Education 
Letter,  1917,  No.  1."  At  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  way  a  letter 
drawn  up  by  the  board  was  sent  to  all  directors  of  summer  schools 
(Bureau  of  Education,  "Civic  Education  Letter,  1917,  No.  2"), 
suggesting  that  lectures  on  the  war  be  included  in  the  school  pro- 
grams; this  suggestion  was  followed  up  with  correspondence  and 


•The  contributors  who  made  possible  this  mission  were  Messrs.  Cass  Gilbert,  Thomas 
W.  Lamont,  Charles  Altschul,  J.  M.  Longyear,  and  G.  S.  Baker. 

'Professor  McLaughlin  contributed  an  informal  account  of  his  mission  to  the  His- 
torical Outlook  for  December,  1918,  under  the  title  "  Impressions  of  Britain  in  war  time." 
His  lectures  have  been  published  in  book  form,  America  and  Britain  (E.  P.  Dutton,  1919). 
Their  subjects  concerned  America's  entry  into  the  war,  British  and  American  relations, 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  the  background  of  American  federalism. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  175 

practical  suggestions  as  to  lecturers  and  subjects,  an  activity  which 
has  already  been  described. 

It  was  also  through  the  Bureau  of  Education  that  the  board 
inaugurated  one  of  its  most  important  undertakings,  the  publication 
of  a  series  of  suggestions  respecting  the  teaching  of  history  in  the 
secondary  schools,  designed  to  show  how  the  history  courses  might 
be  made  more  profitable  and  more  enlightening  in  view  of  con- 
temporary events.  These  suggestions  were  prepared  by  four  com- 
mittees, each  dealing  with  one  of  the  fields  of  history  which  compose 
the  high-school  curriculum,  ancient,  general  European,  English,  and 
American.8  To  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  series  the  board 
prepared  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Opportunities  for  History  teachers : 
the  lessons  of  the  Great  War  in  the  classroom,"  which  was  published 
by  the  Bureau  of  Education  as  its  "  Teachers'  Leaflet  No.  1,  1917," 
and  distributed  widely  among  teachers  of  history  during  the  summer 
of  1917.  In  this  pamphlet  certain  general  suggestions  were  offered 
in  an  endeavor  to  point  out  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
history  teacher  in  the  present  emergency,  the  proper  use  of  history 
in  stimulating  patriotism  and  especially  in  developing  the  sense  of 
duty  and  of  civic  obligation,  and  to  warn  against  the  abuse  of  history 
and  chauvinistic  tendencies.  Then  followed  more  specific  sugges- 
tions respecting  the  four  fields  of  history  which  have  been  enumer- 
ated. This  pamphlet  was  followed  up  by  progressive  suggestions 
and  comment  in  each  of  these  fields,  which  were  published  serially 
in  the  Historical  Outlook  (History  Teachers'  Magazine)  from  Sep- 
tember, 1917,  to  May,  1918,  and  which  were  designed  to  accompany 
the  four  courses  through  the  school  year. 

The  preparation  of  a  companion  pamphlet  of  suggestions  in  his- 
tory, civics,  and  geography  for  the  use  of  teachers  in  the  elementary 
schools  was  undertaken  with  the  aid  of  Prof.  J.  M.  Gambrill,  but 
changing  circumstances  prevented  its  completion. 

In  the  summer  of  1918  a  second  pamphlet  was  prepared  for  the 
board  containing  an  "  Outline  of  an  emergency  course  of  instruction 
on  the  war,"  by  Charles  A.  Coulomb,  Arnold  J.  Gerson,  and  Albert 
E.  McKinley.  This  was  intended  for  use  in  both  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary schools  and  was  published  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  as 
"  Teachers'  Leaflet,  No.  4,  1918."  9    At  the  same  time  a  short  history 

8  These  committees  were  as  follows :  Ancient  history,  R.  V.  D.  Magoffin,  chairman,  J.  H 
Breasted,  S.  P.  R.  Chadwick,  W.  S.  Davis,  W.  S.  Ferguson,  A.  T.  Olmstead,  W.  L.  Wester 
mann  ;  medieval  and  modern  European  history,  D.  C.  Munro,  chairman,  F.  M.  Anderson 
Arthur  I.  Andrews,  S.  B.  Harding,  D.  C.  Knowlton,  Margaret  McGill ;  English  history 
A.  L.  Cross,  chairman,  Wayland  J.  Chase,  E.  P.  Cheyney,  Blanche  E.  Hazard,  L.  M.  Lar 
son,  Wallace  Notestein  ;  American  history,  Evarts  B.  Greene,  chairman,  W.  L.  Fleming, 
R.  A.  Maurer,  F.  L.  Paxson,  T.  C.  Smith,  James  Sullivan,  E.  M.  Violette. 

9  The  authors  of  this  pamphlet  subsequently  published  a  textbook  based  on  their  Outline 
School  History  of  the  Great  War  (American  Book  Co.). 


176  AMEEICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

of  the  war,  adapted  to  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school 
was  written  by  Eva  March  Tappan,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  boarc1 
and  published  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. :  The  Little  Book  of  the  War1 
while  a  selection  of  readings  for  school  use  was  compiled  for  th' 
board  by  Mrs.  Dana  C.  Munro  and  edited  by  Prof.  Robert  C.  Claris 
of  the  University  of  Oregon.  It  was  published  by  Charles  Scritf 
ner's  Sons  under  the  title  of  "  War  Readings."  l[ 

A  French  war  reader  for  use  in  high-school  and  college  classelC 
was  also  compiled  by  the  board,  with  the  assistance  of  Prof.  Charle 
A.  Downer,  who  furnished  the  linguistic  editing  and  vocabulary 
the  historical  editing  being  done  chiefly  by  Miss  Esther  M.  Gai' 
braith,  but  a  series  of  untoward  circumstances  prevented  its  publica^ 
tion  before  the  close  of  the  war  and  it  was  abandoned.  The  intrcj 
duction  to  the  reader  was,  however,  published  in  a  translation  b; 
Professor  Downer,  in  National  School  Service,  the  educational  peri1^ 
odical  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  for  December  13 
1918.  This  introduction  was  in  the  form  of  a  charming  address  tl 
American  school  children  by  the  veteran  French  historian,  educatoi11 
tfnd  academician,  Ernest  Lavisse,  entitled  "  Why  a  Frenchman  love5 
America,"  which  was  procured  for  the  board  by  the  French  Missioif 

Through  the  columns  of  the  Historical  Outlook  the  board  pubte 
lished  a  number  of  aids  to  teachers  in  addition  to  the  series  of  sugtE 
gestions  already  noted.  These  took  the  form  of  special  articles  anc^ 
particularly  of  "  war  supplements "  containing  documentary  anc| 
other  material.  The  first  of  these  (January,  1918)  was  a  "  Topica 
Outline  of  the  Great  War,"  by  Prof.  Samuel  B.  Harding  (also  pub] 
lished  as  a  pamphlet  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information) ,  whic};i) 
served  as  a  most  complete  and  valuable  guide  for  the  organization 
of  courses,  lectures,  and  readings.    A  companion  supplement  (March 

1918)  was  the  "  Selected  Bibliography  of  the  War,"  by  Profs.  G.  M1* 
Dutcher  and  A.  H.  Lybyer,  already  noted,  while  a  geographical  sup! 
plement  (April,  1918),  prepared  by  Professors  Harding  and  Willian 
E.  Lingelbach,  furnished  a  small  but  exceedingly  useful  collectior^ 
of  war  maps  for  school  use.     Other  supplements  contained  docu 
ments  and  other  illustrative  material  respecting  the  German  occu- 
pation of  Belgium,  the  war  aims  of  Germany  as  regarded  France 
British  views  on  reconstruction  and  historic  peace  congresses  anc 
alliances,  while  two  others  were  devoted  to  a  bibliography  of  peace! 
and  reconstruction  and  to  a  digest  of  the  war  legislation  of  the  Sixty 
fifth  Congress.     One  of  the  most  important  supplements  (January 

1919)  was  a  comprehensive  review  of  the  "  Economic  Mobilization  of 
the  United  States,"  prepared  by  the  Historical  Branch  of  the  Genera] 
Staff  under  the  direction  of  Maj.  F.  L.  Paxson,  a  member  of  the 
board.    The  special  articles  took  the  form  of  discussions  of  specific 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  177 

)roblems  such  as  the  effect  of  the  war  on  labor  and  capital,  European 
teutrals  and  the  peace  conference,  the  Kussian  Revolution  and  the 
yar,  etc.,  and  after  the  armistice  there  was  contributed  a  series  of 
larratives  of  personal  experiences  or  accounts  of  special  phases  of 
vav  activity  by  various  members  of  the  historical  profession.10  Re- 
>rints  of  many  of  the  contributions  and  entire  copies  of  the  His- 
orical  Outlook  were  purchased  by  the  board  in  large  quantities  and 
listributed  in  response  to  requests  for  suggestions  and  information. 

In  the  second  half  of  1918,  with  the  creation  of  the  Students' 
Irmy  Training  Corps  and  the  organization  of  the  War  Issues 
bourse  as  a  part  of  its  curriculum,  the  cooperation  of  the  board  with 
he  War  Department's  Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Traili- 
ng became  an  important  part  of  the  former's  educational  work, 
rhis  took  the  form  of  advising  with  respect  to  the  War  Issues 
bourse,  and  particularly  of  aid  in  preparing  a  pamphlet  of  "  Ques- 
ions  on  the  Issues  of  the  War  "  (C.  e.  21).  This  latter  compilation, 
vhich  was  not  in  any  sense  a  catechism,  contained  some  112  ques- 
ions  selected  as  most  significant  and  representative  from  among 
everal  thousand  queries  actually  presented  in  writing  by  men  in  mili- 
ary training.  The  questions  were  grouped  under  various  heads  and 
sach  group  was  accompanied  by  detailed  references  to  easily  acces- 
sible sources  from  which  the  information  desired  might  be  obtained. 
Uso  for  use  in  the  War  Issues  Course,  Prof.  A.  E.  McKinley  brought 
ogether  in  a  volume,  "Collected  Materials  for  the  Study  of  the 
vVar,"  the  war  supplements  of  the  Historical  Outlook  with  some 
)ther  material,  and  this  collection  of  sources  and  aids  was  generally 
tdopted  to  supplement  the  lectures  and  textbooks  with  which  the 
course  was  conducted. 

In  the  latter  half  of  1917,  in  order  to  stimulate  teachers  to  prepare 
;hemselves  for  explaining  the  war  to  their  classes,  the  board  offered 
>rizes  for  essays  by  teachers  in  the  public  schools  on  the  subject 
'  Why  the  United  States  is  at  war."  This  contest  was  organized  in 
L5  States,  the  funds  for  the  prizes  being  obtained  chiefly  through  the 

10  This  series  was  made  up  of  the  following  articles :  "  The  Food  Administration  :  A  test 
if  American  democracy,"  by  E.  S.  Brown  (May,  1919);  "War  tasks  and  accomplish- 
aents  of  the  Shipping  Board,"  by  J.  G.  Randall  (June,  1919)  ;  "  With  the  First  Division," 
>y  Lieut.  R.  A.  Newhall  (October,  1919)  ;  "  The  German  press  and  the  war,"  by  Victor 
5.  Clark  (November,  1919)  ;  "  Over  there  in  Siberia,"  by  Capt.  L.  B.  Packard   (December, 

919)  ;  "  How  American  aviators  were  trained,"  by  Col.  Hiram  Bingham  (January, 
1920)  ;  "Morale  work  in  an  Army  camp,"  by  Ma.i.  R.  V.  B.  Magoffin  (February,  1920)  ; 
'The  committee  on  public  information,"  by  Prof.  G.  S.  Ford  (March,  1920)  ;  "  Tbe  pro- 
urement  of  quartermaster's  supplies  during  the  World  War,"  by  Albert  L.  Scott  (April, 

920)  ;  "  Experiences  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  in  Russia,"  by  T.  P.  Martin  (May,  1920)  ; 
"  Intelligence  work  at  First  Army  headquarters,"  by  Capt.  J.  C.  Parish  (June,  1920)  ; 
'  Going  over,"  by  Ensign  S.  C  Clement  (November,  1920). 

25066°— 23 12 


178  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

generosity  of  various  individuals.11  In  each  State  the  competitio'5 
was  held  in  two  groups,  one  comprising  the  teachers  in  the  secondar 
schools,  the  other  the  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools,  and  in  eaci 
group  prizes  aggregating  $150  were  offered,  both  first  prizes  beinjl 
of  $75.  The  winners  of  the  first  prizes  competed  in  their  respective 
groups  for  two  national  prizes  offered  by  the  board.  Dr.  Leo  1 
Stock  had  general  charge  of  the  content,  and  in  each  State  a  directoj 
was  appointed  who  named  the  committees  of  award  and  attended  tij 
other  details.  Some  688  essays  were  offered  in  competition,  Nort.ei 
Carolina  leading  the  other  States  with  94  competitors.12 

The  chief  educational  activity  to  which  the  board  devoted  the  lasf1 
months  of  its  existence  in  1919  was  a  fresh  study  of  the  whoI«  pro' 
gram  of  historical  instruction  in  the  schools.     The  request  to  under,pi 
take   this    work   came    from   the    National    Education    Associatioi 
through  its  commission  on  a  national  program  for  education,  anc 
the  first  step  taken  by  the  board  was  to  secure  the  cooperation  o 
the  American  Historical  Association.     The  two  organizations  ap 
pointed  a  joint  committee  on  history  and  education  for  citizenshij 
in  the  schools,13  the  organization  of  which  was  completed  in  Feb; 
ruary,  1919.     The  committee  held  meetings  and  conferences  in  Wash;|)f 
ington,  New  York,  and  Chicago,  and  individual  members  of  it  wer 
in  constant  contact  with   associations  or  other  groups  of  histon 
teachers  in  all  sections  of  the  country  in  order  that  the  work  of  thi 
committee  might  have  the  benefit  of  the  best  opinion  and  the  widest 
experience.     The  program  which  the  committee  set  for  itself  wa| 
formulated,  as  follows,  in  its  "  Preliminary  statement "  of  March  15 

(a)  Starting  from  the  idea  of  education  for  citizenship,  the  committee  wfllj 
plan  courses  in  history  for  the  eight  years  of  the  common  school  and  the  foul 
years  of  high  school,  taking  account  also  of  the  "  six-three-three  "  arrangement^ 
where  that  is  in  vogue.  In  addition  it  will  consider  the  special  needs  of  tnj 
normal  school,  the  vocational  school,  the  rural  school,  and  the  distinctive 
Americanization  programs.  'L 

(&)  As  its  most  urgent  problem,  the  committee  will  study  the  question  omi 
the  high-school  history  courses,  and  will  prepare  a  report  on  a  first  year  oi 
history  and  a  second  year  of  history  in  the  high  school.     These  courses,  to  bad 
given  either  in  the  first  and  second  or  the  second  and  third  years  (this  point! 


"  The  choice  of  States  was  determined  by  the  ability  of  the  board  to  secure  funds,  th<, 
donors  specifying  for  which  States  their  respective  contributions  were  to  be  used.  Th< 
contest  was  held  in  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  NeW"1 
York,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin1^ 
and  Minnesota.  The  donors  were  Charles  Altschul,  George  L.  Beer,  W.  A.  Brice,  Gen 
J.  S.  Carr,  Thomas  Chadbourne,  jr.,  Howell  Cheyney,  Paul  Cravath,  John  Crosby,  Samue 
B.  Harding,  Dwight  W.  Morrow,  Sigourney  Stern,  Cornelius  J.  Sullivan,  and  the  North 
Carolina  Historical  Commission. 

12  The  results  of  the  competition  and  the  names  of  the  State  directors  and  committees 
of  award  were  announced  in  the  Historical  Outlook  for  April  and  May,  1918. 

13  The  committee  was  composed  as  follows :  Joseph  Schafer,  chairman  ;  Daniel  C  Knowl 
ton,  secretary  ;  William  C.  Bagley,  Frank  S.  Bogardus,  Julian  A.  C.  Chandler,  Guy  Stan 
ton  Ford,  Samuel  B.  Harding,  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  179 

i  be  decided  after  further  investigation),  are  to  be  (1)  a  course  in  modern 
story  and  (2)  a  course  in  United  States  history. 

(c)  The  committee  accepts  the  report  of  the  former  Committee  of  Eight  of 
le  American  Historical  Association  (The  Study  of  History  in  the  Elementary 
chools,  New  York,  Scribners,  1909)  as  the  basis  of  the  common-school  his- 
»ry  work,  but  it  expects  to  study  this  report  with  a  view  to  adjusting  its 

commendations  to  the  new  situation  which  will  result  from  a  recasting  of 
le  high-school  work,  and  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  other  improvements 
mt  may  seem  practicable.  One  suggested  change  is  to  strengthen  and  dignify 
le  sixth-grade  history,  covering  European  backgrounds,  in  order  to  make  it 
rve  as  an  introduction  to  the  modern  history  course  in  the  high  school  as 
ell  as  to  the  American  history  course  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades, 
that  end  the  committee  believes  the  sixth-grade  work  in  history  should 
b  made  a  basis  of  promotion,  as  is  the  history  of  the  upper  two  years. 

(d)  For  controlling  its  procedure  in  the  outlining  of  courses,  the  committee 
ill  attempt  to  apply  the  principle  that  "  every  new  step  in  history  instruc- 
on  should  be  a  step  forward  in  the  subject."    It  will  seek  to  eliminate  dupli- 

ation  by  a  careful  selection  of  subject  matter  to  be  taught  at  each  stage  of  the 
ork  in  history.     It  also  contemplates  setting  up  some  effective  standards  for 

leasuring  results  in  history  instruction. 

(e)  The  committee  are  agreed  that  methods  of  teaching  history  should  be 
Wisidered  in  the  forthcoming  report,  that  specimen  lessons  should  be  pre- 
Bnted,  and  that  one  of  the  guiding  principles  in  methodology  is  the  necessity 
f  placing  greater  stress  than  formerly  upon  significant  interpretative  ideas  as 
pposed  to  a  multiplicity  of  unrelated  facts. 

1  The  aims  of  the  committee  as  set  forth  at  the  same  time  are  also 
'/orth  quoting  in  full  both  because  of  their  high  idealism  and  because 
f  the  clear  conception  which  they  reveal  of  the  value  of  history  as  an 
issential  part  of  any  program  of  education : 

'  1.  The  supreme  aim  in  the  teaching  of  history  and  social  science  is  to  give 
iositive  direction  to  the  growth  of  those  mental  and  moral  qualities  of  chil- 
dren which,  rightly  developed,  constitute  the  basis  of  the  highest  type  of 
litizenship. 

I  2.  We  gladly  acknowledge  that  all  sound  training,  through  whatever  feature 
If  the  school  curriculum,  contributes  helpfully  to  this  desired  end;  but  we 
re  nevertheless  convinced  that  the  historical  training  affects  the  result  most 
'lirectly. 

1  3.  Historical  training  (a)  frees  the  mind  from  the  trammels  of  time  and 
place,  substituting  the  idea  of  social  development  and  change  for  the  in- 
tinctive  notion  of  a  static  social  world,  performing  in  this  respect  a  service 
h  education  analogous  to  that  performed  by  biology  for  organic  nature  or  by 
:eology  for  inorganic  nature,  (b)  It  tends  to  produce  openmindedness,  which 
aitigates  native  prejudice  and  permits  truth  to  gain  recognition,  (c)  It  in- 
luces  patient  inquiry  for  the  purpose  of  disclosing  the  facts  of  a  given  situa- 
tion before  passing  judgment,  (d)  It  gives  some  grasp  upon  the  methods  of 
investigation  and  the  tests  of  accuracy,  (e)  It  develops  that  form  of  judg- 
ment which  deals  with  the  shifting  and  conditional  relations  of  men  in  society, 
aipplementing  the  scientific  judgment  which  arises  from  the  study  of  animate 
ind  inanimate  nature  and  of  mathematics,  (f)  It  yields,  or  should  yield,  the 
ligh  moral  and  ethical  concepts  of  loyalty  to  principles  and  to  institutions  by 
evealing  the  cost  at  which  the  elements  of  civilization  have  been  secured 
:or  us. 


3  80  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  work  of  the  committee  was  actively  carried  on  during  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1919,  a  tentative  report  being  presented  in  the 
Historical  Outlook  for  June  of  that  year;  and  a  further  report 
was  presented  to  the  American  Historical  Association  in  December, 

1919,  and  was  published  in  the  Historical  Outlook  for  February, 

1920.  Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  board  on  December  30,  1919,! 
the  committee  was  continued  as  a  committee  of  the  American  His-  1 
torical  Association  but  its  further  history  is  not  a  part  of  this! 
chronicle.14 

The  miscellaneous  and  minor  activities  of  the  board  in  the  field 
of  education   were  numerous.     The   board  was  represented  by   its 
chairman  in  the  Emergency  Council  on  Education  which  was  or- 
ganized under  the  National  Research  Council,  and  the  chairman! 
or  members  of  the  board  took  part  in  various  educational  confer- 1 
ences,  such  as  those  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study 
of  Education  held  at  Atlantic  City  in  February,  1918,  and  the  Con- 
ference  on  International  Relations  in  Education  called  by  the  United 
States   Commissioner   of   Education,   and   addressed   gatherings   of" 
teachers  in  different  parts  of  the  country.     The  board  als®  carried 
on  an  extensive  correspondence  with  educators  and  history  teachers!; 
who  wrote  to  it  for  suggestions,  advice,  or  information.     In  these : 
and  in  many  other  ways  the  board  endeaA^ored  to  serve  the  interests,; 
of  history  and  of  education  and  to  advance  the  cause  of  reasoned'; 
and  intelligent  patriotism. 

GOVERNMENT  SERVICE. 

Various  services  which  the  board  performed  for  the  Government 
have  already  been  described,  including  the  investigations  undertaken- 
for  the  Peace  Inquiry,  the  service  to  the  War  Department  in  provid- 
ing lectures  in  the  camps  and  assistance  in  the  organization  of  the 
War  Issues  Course,  and  the  cooperation  with  the  Bureau  of  Educa- ; 
tion  in  the  publication  of  suggestions  for  teachers.  The  two  prin- 
cipal forms  of  Government  service,  however,  consisted  of  coopera- 
tion with  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  and  the  examination 
of  the  daily  and  periodical  press  of  the  enemy  countries. 

The  Committee  on  Public  Information  was  already  at  work  before 
?he  establishment  of  the  board,  but  its  organization  had  not  been 
completed.  Partly  as  a  result  of  suggestions  from  the  board  the  - 
committee  created  a  division  of  civic  and  educational  cooperation, 
of  which  Prof.  Guy  Stanton  Ford  was  director,  assisted  later  by 
Prof.  Samuel  B.  Harding,  both  of  whom  were  members  of  the  board.  | 
The  principal  function  of  this  division  was  the  preparation  of  war 


i*  Subsequent  reports  of  the  committee  are  printed  in  the  Historical  Outlook  for  March, 
April,  May,  June,  1920. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  181 

pamphlets  of  patriotic  or  informative  character  and  their  publica- 
tion and  distribution,  a  work  in  which  the  board  cooperated  to  such 
I  an  extent  that  it  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  an  auxiliary  of  the 
division.  The  board  advised  with  respect  to  the  subject  matter  of 
proposed  pamphlets,  suggested  writers,  aided  in  the  work  of  research 
which  the  nature  of  some  of  the  publications  made  necessary,  and 
!  served  as  a  distributor  of  the  pamphlets  to  teachers  and  students  of 
!  history.  The  board  procured  for  the  division  the  material  for  cer- 
tain pamphlets,  as  "  The  Great  War :  From  Spectator  to  Partici- 
pant," by  Prof.  A.  C.  McLaughlin,  and  "  The  Battle  Line  of  Democ- 
racy," a  collection  of  patriotic  prose  and  verse  of  America  and  of  the 
I  allied  countries,  compiled  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Donnan  and  Miss 
:  Frances  G.  Davenport,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  compilation  of 
the  War  Encyclopedia.  Members  of  the  board  wrote  or  compiled 
certain  other  of  the  pamphlets,  notably  "  The  Government  of  Ger- 
many," by  Charles  Downer  Hazen ;  "  American  Interest  in  Popular 
Government  Abroad,"  by  Evarts  B.  Greene ;  "  Conquest  and  Kul- 
tur,"  by  Wallace  Notestein,  a  compilation  of  quotations  from  Ger- 
man sources  revealing  the  plans  and  purposes  of  pan-Germanism; 
and  "  German  War  Practices,"  by  Dana  C.  Munro,  dealing  with  the 
treatment  of  civilians  and  of  conquered  territory,  based  on  a  careful 
examination  of  German  and  neutral  evidence  and  on  the  records  of 
the  Department  of  State.  A  special  service  rendered  by  the  board 
was  the  critical  examination  of  certain  documents  procured  from 
Russia  by  Mr.  Edgar  Sisson,  which  seemed  to  establish  the  existence 
of  a  German-Bolshevik  conspiracy.  The  authenticity  of  these  docu- 
ments having  been  questioned  in  some  sections  of  the  press  the  mat- 
ter was  referred  by  the  committee  to  the  board,  which  appointed  a 
special  committee  of  historical  experts.  The  report  of  this  com- 
mittee, which  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  authenticity  of  the  essen- 
tial documents,  though  not  of  all,  was  published  by  the  Committee 
on  Public  Information  as  "  The  German-Bolshevik  Conspiracy  (War 
Information  Series  No.  20)."  15 

The  most  important  single  undertaking  of  the  board  was  the 
maintenance  of  an  Enemy-Press  Intelligence  Service.  In  the  spring 
of  1917  the  Pictorial  Service  of  the  British  High  Commission  pro- 
cured for  the  board  a  regular  supply  of  the  more  important  German 
newspapers  and  periodicals.  These  were  at  first  utilized  by  an  ex- 
perienced journalist,  the  late  Gustav  Pollak,  who  supplied  the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information  with  translations  of  extracts  suitable 
for  use  by  the  American  press.  When  Doctor  Pollak  was  obliged 
by  reason  of  his  health  to  give  up  this  work  a  special  Enemy  Press 

18  A  concise  account  of  the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  by  Prof. 
G.  S.  I\>rd,  was  published  in  the  Historical  Outlook  for  March,  1919. 


182  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Bureau  was  organized  by  the  board  upon  direct  request  by  the 
President,  and  one  of  its  members,  Mr.  Victor  S.  Clark,  was  made 
director  of  it.  The  work  of  this  bureau  rapidly  assumed  large  pro- 
portions; additional  newspapers  and  periodicals  were  procured, 
some  through  the  French  Mission,  some  through  the  Belgian  Infor- 
mation Service,  and  some  through  direct  subscription  in  Holland 
and  Switzerland,  until  the  board  was  in  current  receipt  of  some  3i 
German  and  Austrian  daily  papers  and  about  50  periodicals,  in- 
cluding carefully  selected  medical,  agricultural,  technical,  scientific, 
political,  and  general  journals. 

This  material  was  read  by  Doctor  Clark,  who  dictated  transla- 
tions of  summaries  to  a  corps  of  stenographers.     These  summaries 
were  typed  in  multiple  and  classified,  and  the  various  sets  were 
distributed  as  they  were  produced.    One  set  was  transmitted  to  the 
State  Department,  two  sets  to  the  Military  Intelligence  section  of 
the  General  Staff,  one  of  which  was  sent  to  the  General  Staff  of  the 
American  Expeditionary  Force  in  France.     A  fourth  set  was  sent 
to  the  Peace  Inquiry,  until  it  was  transferred  to  Paris  after  the  . 
armistice.     A  fifth  set  was  sent  to  the  library  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity in  return  for  the  services  of  a  stenographer;  and  a  sixth 
set  was  filed  in  the  bureau.     Special  portions  of  the  translated  ma-f 
terial  were  also  transmitted  to  the  Food  Administration,  the  Public , 
Health  Service,  the  Federal  Reserve  Board,  the  Bureau  of  Educa-  i 
tion,  and  to  other  offices  of  the  Government,  and  from  time  to  time  to 
certain  periodicals  when  it  was  considered  desirable  to  secure  their; 
publication  in  the  United  States.    The  State  Department  was  occa-  • 
sionally  furnished  with  copies  of  matters  of  unusual  importance,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  German-Russian  treaties. 

The  files  of  newspapers  and  periodicals  were  also  used  extensively 
by  Government  offices  such  as  the  War  Trade  Board,  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  the  Children's  Bureau,  and  others  in  the  course  of 
special  investigations  by  their  own  employees,16  while  the  Committee 
on  Public  Information  maintained  a  translator  and  typist  in  the 
bureau  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  work  of  the  bureau  was  continued  until  July  1,  1919.  The 
newspapers  and  periodicals  were  then  disposed  of  in  various  ways, 
chiefly  to  the  Library  of  Congress  and  to  the  Hoover  collection  of 
Stanford  University,  and  the  file  of  summaries  was  deposited  in  the 
Division  of  Manuscripts  of  the  Library  of  Congress.  These  trans- 
lations, numbering  over  20,000  items,  have  been  reproduced  by  pho- 
tography for  six  subscribing  libraries,17  making  available  for  re- 

16  Far  example,  "  The  Food  Situation  in  Europe,"  by  Alfred  Maylander,  published  by 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Bulletin  No.  242,  April,  1918. 

17  University  of  Illinois,  University  of  Chicago,  University  of  Michigan,  University  of 
Wisconsin,  Vassar  College,  Pomona  College. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  183 

search  a  large  amount  of  carefully  gathered  information  respecting 
economic,  social,  political,  and  intellectual  conditions  in  the  countries 
of  the  Central  Powers. 

COLLECTION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF  WAR  RECORDS. 

From  the  first  days  of  its  existence  the  board  regarded  as  one  of 
its  most  important  duties  the  effort  to  encourage  the  collection  and 
preservation  of  all  material  which  would  serve  to  record  the  mobili- 
zation of  the  military,  economic,  social,  and  intellectual  forces  of  the 
country.  It  was  realized  that  the  emergency  of  war  would  necessi- 
tate a  canvass  of  the  Nation's  resources,  human  and  material,  such 
as  had  never  before  been  undertaken,  and  it  was  felt  to  be  a  matter 
of  vital  importance  that  the  record  of  this  canvass  in  all  its  details 
should  be  preserved.  The  efforts  of  historians  of  the  present  genera- 
tion to  reconstruct  the  social  and  economic  history  of  the  Civil  War 
and  the  difficulties  encountered  by  them  in  discovering  and  assem- 
bling the  essential  materials  made  them  still  more  keenly  aware  of 
jthe  necessity  of  immediate  effort  and  activity  with  respect  to  con- 
temporary records.  Furthermore,  agencies  suitable  for  undertaking 
such  activities,  which  were  almost  nonexistent  in  1865,  were  now 
plentiful  in  the  form  of  historical  societies,  State  commissions  of  his- 
tory, and  libraries.  Accordingly  on  May  10,  1917,  a  subcommittee  of 
the  board  sent  the  following  letter  to  all  State  historical  commissions, 
to  the  more  active  historical  societies,  and  to  a  large  number  of 
libraries,  in  all  to  some  four  or  five  hundred  institutions  and  or- 
ganizations. 

The  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  is  a  voluntary  and  unofficial  body, 
the  principal  object  of  which  is  to  furnish  a  medium  through  which  in  the 
present  crisis  the  historical  scholarship  of  the  country  may  render  its  appro- 
;priate  and,  we  hope,  effective  service. 

It  seems  clear  to  us  that  if  the  interests  of  the  student  of  history  are  to 
be  secured  the  various  historical  agencies  of  the  country,  and  especially  the 
historical  societies  and  libraries,  must  bestir  themselves  to  provide  for  the 
I  systematic  and  inclusive  collection  and  the  effective  preservation  of  all  kinds  of 
material  serving  to  record  and  illustrate  present  events. 

Naturally  such  a  problem  presents  itself  in  different  ways  to  different 
! agencies.  The  Library  of  Congress,  the  agent  of  the  National  Government,  is 
! endeavoring  to  collect  all  material  of  national  importance;  the  State  agency 
(historical  society,  department  of  history,  historical  commission,  etc.)  natu- 
rally seeks  to  preserve  a  record  of  State  activities. 

The  amount  of  formal  literature  relating  to  the  war  is  already  of  formidable 
jextent,  and  only  the  largest  institutions  can  hope  to  make  any  considerable 
(collection  of  it. 

There  are,  however,  many  kinds  of  material  which  are  of  the  greatest  value 
to  the  historian  and  which  the  library  or  society  that  interests  itself  in  local 
matters  can  collect  more  effectively  than  can  the  larger  institutions. 


184  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION-. 

This  material  is  such  as  illustrates  the  local  state  of  mind — the  local  reac- 
tions, local  events,  etc.     Such  material  includes  the  following: 

1.  Official  documents,  such  as  municipal  ordnances,  proclamations  of  mayors, 
notices  of  hoards,  etc. 

2.  Semiofficial  documents :  Resolutions  of  public  meetings,  of  labor  unions, 
of  church  societies,  etc. 

3.  Public-service  documents :  Announcements,  notices,  orders,  etc.,  issued  by 
public-service  corporations. 

4.  Fugitive  printed  material:  Posters  (recruiting  and  other);  programs  of 
concerts,  meetings,  fairs,  etc.,  held  for  purposes  connected  with  the  war. 

5.  Economic  material :  Price  lists,  advertisements. 

6.  Propaganda  material. 

7.  Clippings. 

8.  Pictorial  material :  Photographs  of  local  events,  of  soldiers,  and  bodies 
of  troops,  etc. 

9.  Mnnuscript  material :  Letters,  diaries,  sermons,  addresses,  etc. 

These  categories  are  mentioned  only  by  way  of  illustration.  It  is  assumed 
that  societies  and  libraries  are  as  a  matter  of  course  acquiring  such  books  and 
newspapers  as  they  can. 

It  is  a  part  of  our  plan,  if  the  matter  meets  with  general  approval  from  those 
to  whom  this  letter  is  addressed,  to  prepare  a  small  pamphlet  of  information, 
and  suggestions  respecting  the  collection  of  war  material  for  permanent  pres- 
ervation. 

Will  you  not  cooperate  with  us  to  the  extent  of  informing  us  as  specifically' 
and  in  as  much  detail  as  possible  with  respect  to  what  your  own  society  or1 
library  is  doing  or  is  planning  to  do  along  these  lines? 

We  should  also  be  glad  to  receive  from  you  any  constructive  suggestions  that 
may  have  occurred  to  you  as  a  result  of  your  experience. 
For  the  board. 

Gaillard  Hunt, 
Robert  D.   W.   Connor, 
Waldo  G.  Leland, 

Subcommittee. 

This  letter  brought  a  large  number  of  replies  which  showed  that 
many  organizations,  especially  those  officially  connected  with  State 
governments  had  had  the  matter  of  record  preservation  seriously 
under  consideration  or  had  already  engaged  in  systematic  work  to 
that  end.  From  the  replies  there  was  also  extracted  much  informa- 
tion which  was  of  value  to  the  board  in  its  subsequent  work  but 
which  was  never  compiled  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet  as  had  been 
su££ested  in  the  letter. 

Bo 

Three  months  later  a  similar  action,  but  in  a  slightly  different 
direction,  was  taken  by  the  board  when  it  learned  of  the  organi- 
zation, by  certain  State  or  county  councils  of  defense,  of  special  com- 
mittees for  the  collection  of  war  records,  and  accordingly  sent  the 
following  letter  of  August  15,  1917,  to  the  secretaries  of  all  the  State 
councils  of  defense : 

The  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  is  endeavoring  to  do  two  things: 
To  make  our  past  experience  useful  for  the  present,  and  to  see  to  it  that  our ' 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  185 

present  experience  is  preserved  for  the  future.  We  believe  that  experience  is  the 
greatest  human  asset,  and  that  its  use  and  preservation  are  matters  of  the 
greatest  public  importance. 

Would  it  not  be  within  the  range  of  the  functions  of  your  council  to  appoint 
a  State  committee  on  history? 

The  following  quotation  from  a  letter  of  the  chairman  of  the  history  com- 
mittee of  the  Council  of  Defense  of  Eau  Claire  County,  Wis.,  gives  an  idea  of 
the  kind  of  work  that  may  be  done.  Any  Grand  Army  man  must  appreciate 
what  it  would  have  meant  to  him  if  this  had  been  during  the  Civil  War : 

"  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  committee  to  gather,  preserve,  index,  and  make 
available  for  public  use  a  record  of  the  sentiments  and  activities  of  organiza- 
tions and  individuals  of  the  county  in  the  present  war. 

"As  regards  the  newspapers  it  is  the  intention  to  preserve  in  scrapbooks  a 
complete  series  of  the  editorials  and  also  the  local  news  items  bearing  or  con- 
nected with  the  war.  All  this  material  will  be  card  indexed  and  this  index 
will  refer  to  the  publication  and  issue  from  which  each  item  is  taken. 

"  Much  attention  will  be  given  to  the  preservation,  with  proper  data  attached, 
of  photographs  and  other  pictures  pertaining  to  the  collections  of  organizations 
and  individuals  of  the  county  in  this  war.  Programs  of  patriotic  gatherings 
and  of  all  meetings  in  any  way  connected  with  the  war.  Also  personal  letters 
written  by  those  in  any  branch  of  the  military  service  will  be  gathered  so  far 
as  possible.     *     *     * 

"A  small  credit  was  placed  at  our  disposal  by  the  county  council  of  defense, 
and  the  committee  had  made  up  one  hundred  large  scrapbook  leaves  *  *  *. 
This  provides  for  every  paper  in  the  county  except  the  one  whose  editor  has 
not  responded.     *     *     * 

"All  material  gathered  will  be  handed  over  to  our  public  library  on  com- 
pletion of  work." 

Our  board  will  be  in  a  position  to  cooperate  with  such  a  committee.  With- 
out local  assistance  we  will  be  able  to  do  little. 

As  a  result  of  the  suggestion  thus  communicated  a  number  of 
State  councils  appointed  committees,  or  "  State  war  history  com- 
missions," as  they  were  more  commonly  termed,  which  were  soon  in 
active  operation. 

Meanwhile  the  board  sent  letters  to  certain  nongovernmental  war 
organizations  calling  attention  to  the  probable  value  of  their  records 
for  historical  purposes  and  urging  their  careful  preservation.  In- 
formation was  also  secured  with  respect  to  the  condition  of  gov- 
ernmental war  records  in  Washington,  and  in  some  cases  members  of 
the  board  were  called  in  consultation  with  respect  to  the  classifica- 
tion and  disposition  of  such  material. 

In  order  still  further  to  focus  attention  upon  the  importance  of 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records  the  board  proposed 
to  the  Public  Archives  Commission  of  the  American  Historical  As- 
sociation that  the  conference  of  archivists,  which  was  to  be  held  as  a 
session  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  association  in  Philadelphia, 
in  December,  1917,  be  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  that  subject.  This 
suggestion  was  adopted  and  the  secretary  of  the  board  and  others 


186  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

read  papers  respecting  the  value  of  certain  groups  of  governmental 
archives  and  the  status  of  State  and  local  collections.18 

During  1918,  and  especially  after  the  armistice,  many  additional 
war  history  commissions  were  created,  and  a  marked  energy  began 
to  be  displayed  in  most  parts  of  the  country  in  the  collection  of  all 
material  that  might  serve  to  record  the  war  activities  of  the  various 
States.  With  these  bodies  the  board  cooperated,  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1919,  in  the  organization  of  the  National  Association  of 
State  War  History  Organizations,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  fur- 
ther the  work  of  the  State  bodies  by  exchange  of  information  and 
suggestions,  and  especially  by  the  exploitation  of  the  war  archives  of 
the  National  Government  for  material  of  value  to  the  States.  The 
connection  of  the  board  with  this  new  association  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  aid  in  organizing  it  already  referred  to  and  placing  at 
its  disposal  all  the  information  collected  by  the  board  with  regard 
to  war  records  in  Washington.  Indeed,  the  association  thus  formed 
practically  took  over  from  the  board  the  function  of  encouraging 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  materials  for  the  history  of 
the  war.19 

Thus,  while  the  board's  activity  with  respect  to  war  records  was5 
confined  to  encouragement,  suggestion,  and  watchfulness,  it  had' 
nevertheless  a  very  real  part  in  starting  an  important  movement; 
from  which  the  history  of  the  United  States  must  receive  an  incal- 
culable benefit. 

PERSONNEL,    PROCEDURE,    FINANCES. 

The  membership  of  the  board  increased  from  9  to  25  during  tht 
32  months  of  its  existence,  most  of  the  additions  being  of  scholar? 
who  came  to  Washington  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  of  war  work; 
The  complete  personnel  of  the  board  was  as  follows : 

Chairmen. — James  T.  Shotwell,  April  29-November  9,  1917; 
Evarts  B.  Greene,  November  9,  1917-September  11,  1918;  Dana  C, 
Munro,  September  11,  1918-December  30,  1919. 

Vice  chairmen. — Charles  H.  Hull,  April  29-November  9,  1917 
Dana   C.   Munro,  November  9,   1917-September   11,   1918;   Joseph 
Schafer  (executive  officer),  September  11,  1918-December  30,  1919. 

18  The  proceedings  of  this  conference  are  printed  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  for  1917. 

19An  elaborate  account  of  the  work  performed  by  the  various  State  organizations  was 
contributed  to  the  American  Historical  Review  for  October,  1919,  by  Franklin  F.  Hol- 
brook,  "  The  Collection  of  State  War  Service  Records."  The  proceedings  of  the  National 
Association  of  State  War  Historical  Organizations  will  be  found  in  this  report.  A  manu- 
script survey  of  war  records  in  Washington  prepared  for  the  new  association  by  Dr.  New- 
ton D.  Mereness  is  in  the  Document  Division  of  the  Library  of  Congress ;  a  more  elab- 
orate survey  of  the  economic  war  records  of  the  Government  is  in  preparation  by  Waldo 
6.  Leland  and  Newton  D.  Mereness  for  the  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  187 

Secretary-treasurer. — Waldo  G.  Leland,  April  29,  1917-December 
30,  1919. 

Members. — Carl  Becker,  Milledge  L.  Bonham,  Victor  S.  Clark, 
Robert  D.  W.  Connor,  Archibald  C.  Coolidge,  William  E.  Dodd, 
Carl  Russell  Fish,  Guy  S.  Ford,  Samuel  B.  Harding,  Charles  H. 
Haskins,  Charles  Downer  Hazen,  Charles  H.  Hull,  Gaillard  Hunt, 
J.  Franklin  Jameson,  Henry  Johnson,  William  E.  Lingelbach. 
Charles  Moore,  Wallace  Notestein,  Frederic  L.  Paxson,  Frederick  J. 
Turner. 

To  these  should  be  added  Dr.  Leo  F.  Stock  of  the  Carnegie  Insti- 
tution who,  though  not  becoming  a  member  of  the  board,  served  as 
its  recorder  and  took  an  active  part  in  its  work. 

Of  the  above,  6  were  residents  of  Washington  (Messrs.  Clark,  Hunt, 
Jameson,  Leland,  Moore,  and  Stock)  and  12  resided  there  during  all 
or  part  of  the  war  (Messrs.  Bonham,  Fish,  Ford,  Greene,  Harding, 
Hull,  Munro,  Notestein,  Paxson,  Schafer,  Shotwell,  and  Turner) ; 
the  other  members  were  in  Washington  occasionally.  There  were 
also  many  other  scholars  in  the  capital  during  the  war  and  from  their 
counsel  and  active  assistance  the  board  profited  much,  as  likewise 
from  the  advice,  suggestions,  and  aid  of  many  more  whose  duties* 
lay  elsewhere.  In  a  very  real  sense  the  effective  personnel  of  the 
board  included  a  large  section  of  the  historical  profession. 

After  its  organization  on  April  29,  1917,  the  board  held  but  few 
formal  meetings,  these  being  on  May  7,  May  31,  and  November  9-10, 
1917,  September  11,  1918,  and  December  30,  1919.  During  May  and 
June,  1917,  the  members  of  the  board  who  were  in  Washington  held 
almost  daily  meetings  of  an  informal  character,  of  which,  however, 
minutes  were  kept,  and  a  general  informal  meeting  was  held  in  Phila- 
delphia in  December,  1917,  during  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Association.  The  business  of  the  board  was  trans- 
acted and  its  work  directed  by  various  committees.  After  November 
9,  1917,  an  executive  committee  composed  of  the  officers  and  of  some 
of  the  members  in  Washington  had  the  responsible  direction  of  the 
board's  activities  and  held  frequent  meetings;  the  executive  commit- 
tee was  aided  by  four  standing  committees — on  research,  bibliography 
and  records,  education,  and  cooperation  with  other  organizations  and 
with  the  Government — and  also  by  special  committees  appointed 
from  time  to  time  for  temporary  purposes.  The  period  of  full  ac- 
tivity of  the  board  extended  from  its  organization  until  the  end  of 
1918 ;  during  the  first  half  of  1919  its  work  was  confined  chiefly  to 
the  educational  survey  and  the  Enemy  Press  Service,  which  have 
been  described,  and  after  July  1  its  activities  practically  ceased. 

The  work  of  the  board  was  supported  chiefly  by  an  appropriation 
from  the  Carnegie  Institution,  of  Washington,  made  through  its 
department  of  historical  research.     The  department  also  provided 


188  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   ASSOCIATION. 

offices,  telephone  and  other  service,  and  the  assistance  of  the  members 
of  its  staff,  two  of  whom  devoted  practically  all  of  their  time  to  the 
board's  work.  Two  officers  of  the  board  were  made  temporary  asso- 
ciates of  the  department,  thus  enabling  them  to  come  to  Washington 
for  periods  of  service  extending  over  several  months.  The  Enemy 
Press  Bureau  derived  its  principal  support  from  a  direct  appropria- 
tion by  the  Carnegie  Institution  and  had  its  offices  in  the  latter's 
Administration  Building. 

The  funds  which  the  board  received  from  other  sources  than  the 
Carnegie  Institution  were  mainly  in  the  form  of  gifts  for  special 
purposes,  chiefly  the  British  lecture  mission  and  the  prize  essay 
competition,  and  of  royalties  from  the  sale  of  the  War  Reader. 
There  were  also  certain  miscellaneous  receipts,  the  most  considerable 
of  which  was  from  the  sale  of  the  German  and  Austrian  newspapers 
and  periodicals. 

The  final  statement  of  the  treasurer  on  December  26, 1919,20  showed 
a  balance  of  over  a  thousand  dollars,  with  the  prospect  of  certain  addi- 
tional receipts  in  the  form  of  further  royalties.     After  authorizing, 
the  treasurer  to  meet  any  outstanding  liabilities,  or  such  as  might  be 
incurred  in  closing  up  the  affairs  of  the  board,  it  was  voted  that  the 
sum  remaining  in  the  treasury,  together  with  future  royalties,  be' 
given   to   the   American   Historical   Association   to   constitute   the, 
Andrew  D.  White  Fund,  the  income  of  which  was  to  be  employed 
in  the  support  of  such  international  undertakings  as  might  be  ap- ; 
proved  by  the  association's  two  representatives  in  the  American 
Council  of  Learned  Societies,  of  which  it  is  a  constituent  member. 
The  board  also  bequeathed  to  the  association  its  committee  on  his- 
tory and  education  for  citizenship  and  the  idea  of  a  committee  on 

service. 

^ < 

80  Final  statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  December  26,  1919. 
Receipts : 

Department   of   historical    research $11,  558.  08 

Other  sources 7,  944.  17 


Expenditures : 

Services $2,  517.  82 

Travel 1,  559.  57 

Supplies | 2,  216.  36 

Bank  charges 1.  00 

Prizes; , 4,  670.  00 

Historical   Outlook 2,  006.  18 

Committee  on  history  and  education  for  citizenship 1,  803.  90 

Enemy   Press  Bureau 1,  752.  15 

Britisfc  lecture  mission 1,  100.  00 

Training  camp  lectures 510.  90 

Services  at  Peace  Inquiry 161.  39 

War  Reader 50.  00 

French  War  Reader 47.60 


19,  502.  25 


18,  396.  87 


Balance 1, 105.  38 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  189 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  permanent  influence  of  the  board 
and  of  its  work.  What  it  was  able  to  do  was  only  a  small  part  of 
iv hat  was  done  by  the  historical  profession  as  a  whole,  but  the  com- 
mon experience  demonstrated  in  convincing  fashion  that  historical 
scholarship  can  serve  effectively  a  multitude  of  needs  and  that  his- 
torical scholars  can  contribute  services  of  great  value  in  time  of 
emergency.  Most  important  of  all,  however,  was  the  fresh  realiza- 
tion of  the  responsibility  of  the  historian  and  of  the  teacher  of 
history.  It  is  through  them  that  future  generations  will  know  and 
judge  the  period  through  which  we  have  just  lived.  The  conception 
which  a  people  has  of  itself,  of  its  principles  of  conduct  and  of  its 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  is  the  essential  factor  in  determining- 
its  action  at  any  given  time,  but  this  conception  is  itself  determined 
chiefly  by  what  it  believes  its  past  to  have  been  and  by  the  lessons 
which  it  draws  from  that  past,  and  this  belief  and  these  lessons  are 
shaped  by  the  historian. 

THE  GENERAL  WAR-TIME  COMMISSION  OF  THE  CHURCHES. 

By    Samuel    McCrea   Cavert,    Associate    Secretary,    Federal    Council    of   the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America. 

The  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches  was  organ- 
ized September  20,  1917,  by  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America,  as  the  agency  through  which  the  Protestant 
churches  of  the  country  should  cooperate  in  carrying  on  their  work  in 
behalf  of  the  Army,  the  Navy,  and  the  Nation  during  the  war.  Dur- 
ing the  five  months  preceding  the  organization  of  the  General  War- 
Time  Commission  preliminary  activities  had  been  carried  on  by  the 
existing  agencies  of  the  Federal  Council. 

The  first  important  historical  record  which  the  General  War-Time 
Commission  of  the  Churches  has  prepared  appeared  at  the  end  of 
1919  under  the  title,  "  War-Time  Agencies  of  the  Churches :  Direc- 
tory and  Handbook,"  a  volume  of  337  pages,  edited  by  Margaret 
Renton,  office  secretary  of  the  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the 
Churches,  and  published  by  the  commission.  This  volume  is  an  ac- 
count of  the  war  activities  of  the  various  denominational  and  inter- 
denominational agencies  of  the  churches.  It  attempts  to  bring  to- 
gether the  outstanding  facts  concerning  the  work  which  was  done  by 
the  official  authorized  agencies  of  the  churches  for  war  service.  It 
deals  particularly  with  the  agencies  included  in  the  constituency  of 
the  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches,  but,  for  pur- 
poses of  completeness,  a  brief  record  of  other  religious  bodies,  such  as 
the  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  the  National  Catholic  War  Council,  the 
Committee  on  War  Activities  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  and  of 
the  Christian  Science  War  Activities,  is  given.    Part  I  of  the  volume 


190 


AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


is  a  record  of  the  work  of  the  various  denominational  war  agencies, 
giving  in  each  case  the  personnel  of  the  organization  and  of  all  its 
standing  and  special  committees,  and  a  summary  of  the  lines  of  work 
which  it  carried  on.    The  following  organizations  are  thus  treated : 

The  War  Commission  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention. 

The  War  Council  of  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention. 

The  War  Work  Commission  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  National  Service  Commission  of  the  Congregational  Churches. 

The  War  Emergency  Committee  for  the  Disciples  of  Christ. 
^  The  Commission  on  National  Service  of  the  Evangelical  Associa- 
tion. 

The  War  Welfare  Commission  of  the  Evangelical  Synod  of  North 
America. 

The  American  Friends  Service  Committee. 

The  National  Lutheran  Commission  for  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Welfare. 

The  Lutheran  Church  Board  for  Army  and  Navy,  United  States  ■ 
of  America,  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  Ohio,  and  other  States. 

The  War-Time  Commission  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  i 
Church. 

The  National  War  Council  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  War  Work  Commission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  ' 
South. 

The  War  Work  Commission  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 
The  United  States  Service  Commission  of  the  Moravian  Church. 
The   War   Work   Commission   of   the   Cumberland   Presbyterian 
Church. 

The  General  War  Work  Council  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States. 

The  National  Service  Commission  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America. 

The  National  Service  Commission  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church. 

The  War  Commission  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

The  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Christian  Reformed  War  Service  Commission. 

The  War  Service  Commission  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  National  Service  Commission  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States. 

The  War  Work  Council  of  the  Unitarian  Churches. 

The  War  Commission  of  the  United  Brethren  Church. 

The  War  Service  Commission  of  the  United  Evangelical  Church. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR. 


191 


Part  II  of  the  volume  gives  a  similar  record  of  the  activities  of  the 
various  interdenominational  and  cooperative  agencies  representing 
the  Protestant  churches  in  various  lines  of  work.  ^  A  summarized 
statement  of  each  of  the  following  organizations  is  given : 

The  Committee  on  War  Work  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
The  Committee  on  War  Literature  of  the  American  Sunday  School 
Union. 

The  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches. 
The  War  Work  of  the  other  commissions  of  the  Federal  Council 
of  the  Churches  ©f  Christ  in  America. 

The  United  Committee  on  War  Temperance  Activities  in  the  Army 
and  Navy. 

The  Home  Missions  Council. 

The  National  Committee  on  the  Churches  and  the  Moral  Aims  of 
the  War. 

The  War  Service  Department  of  the  Salvation  Army. 
The  Committee  on  the  War  and  the  Religious  Outlook. 
The  National  War  Work  Council  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations. 

The  Interdenominational  Young  People's  Commission. 
The  War  Work  Council  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations. 

Special  consideration  is  given  to  the  work  of  the  General  War-Time 
Commission  of  the  Churches  as  the  inclusive  organization  made  up 
of  official  representatives  of  practically  all  the  existing  Protestant 
agencies  for  war  service.  The  work  of  its  committees  on  Survey 
of  the  Field;  on  Army  and  Navy  Chaplains;  on  Camp  Neighbor- 
hoods ;  on  Interchurch  Buildings  and  War  Production  Communities ; 
on  the  Welfare  of  Negro  Troops ;  on  Interchange  of  Preachers  and 
Speakers  between  the  Churches  of  America,  Great  Britain,  and 
France;  on  the  Employment  of  Returning  Soldiers;  on  Social  Hy- 
giene; on  Voluntary  Chaplains;  and  other  committees,  is  given  in 
summarized  form. 

A  supplement  to  the  volume  gives  a  complete  list  of  the  war-time 
publications  of  the  various  agencies  of  the  Protestant  Churches. 

A  further  historical  record  is  now  in  preparation — the  Report  of 
the  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches.  This  is  to  be 
a  much  more  detailed  history  of  the  cooperative  work  of  the  churches 
through  the  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches  than  is 
given  in  the  War-Time  Agencies  of  the  Churches,  described  above. 
It  will  embody  the  official  reports  of  its  various  committees,  record 
all  its  more  important  actions  and  utterances,  and  present  a  general 
interpretation  of  the  significance  of  the  work  which  was  done  by  the 
churches  during  the  war.  It  will  contain  also  appendixes  giving 
statistical  information  concerning  the  number  of  regular  chaplains 


192  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

in  the  Army  and  Navy,  voluntary  chaplains,  work  done  in  war  pro- 
duction communities  and  in  the  various  other  lines.  The  prepara- 
tion of  the  volume  is  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  Gaylord  S.  White,  formerly 
associate  secretary  of  the  General  War-time  Commission. 

The  chief  sources  of  data  for  this  forthcoming  record  of  the  coop- 
erative work  of  the  churches  during  the  war  are  as  follows: 

The  official  record  of  the  fortnightly  meetings  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  General  War-Time  Commission  of  the  Churches. 

The  official  reports  of  the  committees  charged  with  responsibility 
for  various  phases  of  work. 

The  data  secured  through  the  press-clipping  service  concerning 
the  work  of  the  chaplains  and  the  churches. 

Extensive  correspondence  with  chaplains,  camp  pastors,  and  other 
workers  in  the  camps. 

Two  comprehensive  surveys  of  the  religious  forces  at  work  in  the 
training  camps,  one  prepared  in  November,  1917,  the  other  in  May, 
1919. 

The  complete  roster  of  the  chaplains  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  to- 
gether with  their  assignments  and  denominational  affiliations. 

The  collection  of  war-time  publications  of  the  churches  in  the 
library  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary. 

It  will  be  observed  from  this  statement  that  no  effort  is  being  made 
to  secure  a  roster  of  all  the  members  of  the  Protestant  Churches  who 
served  in  the  war.  The  aim  is  rather  to  chronicle  the  service  which 
was  rendered  by  the  authorized  agencies  of  the  churches. 

NATIONAL  CATHOLIC  WAR  COUNCIL 
By  the  Committee  on  Historical  Records. 

Summary  of  the  work  which  has  been  done  by  the  committee  on 
historical  records  from  its  inception  to  April  1,  1920,  and  outline 
of  what  remains  to  be  accomplished.  Broadly  speaking,  there  were 
three  parts  to  the  program: 

I.  A  complete  census  of  Catholic  men  in  the  service  (Army,  Navy,  Marine 
Corps). 

II.  The  foundation  ef  national  Catholic  archives,  or  a  central  depot  where  the 
student  of  Catholic  activity  in  the  war  would  be  enabled  to  find  easily  and 
efficiently  all  the  source  material  to  be  used  for  that  purpose.  This  source 
material,  generally  speaking,  can  be  catalogued  under  three  headings: 

(a)  Newspaper  material:  For  this  purpose  a  periodical  department  was  in- 
stituted. Letters  were  sent  out  to  all  the  Catholic  papers,  and  immediately 
the  files  of  the  Catholic  press  of  the  country  began  to  grow. 

(6)   Private  letters  and  diaries  of  those  in  the  service. 

(c)  Books,  published  by  every  sort  of  organization  on  American  cooperation 
In  the  war,  which  would  furnish  materials  for  the  Catholic  historian. 

III.  Cooperation. —  (a)  Cooperation  with  the  other  national  standing  com- 
mittees of  the  committee  on  special  war  activities.     By  this  is  meant  that  the 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WORLD  WAR.  193 

chairmen  and  secretaries  of  the  other  committees  expected  to  be  kept  in  con- 
stant touch  with  all  newspaper  accounts  dealing  with  their  particular  field 
of  activity. 

(b)  Cooperation  with  the  Catholic  press:  It  was  hoped  that  the  committee 
on  historical  records  would  be  able  to  send  out  frequently,  if  not  weekly, 
"  releases  "  telling  of  the  work  done  by  individual  Catholics  in  the  service. 

(c)  Cooperation  with  other  agencies  outside  the  committee  on  special  war 
activities. 

I.  What  Has  Been  Accomplished. 

A  summary  report  of  the  work  that  has  been  done  should  contain  a  reply  to 
the  following  general  question :  "  How  far  has  the  committee  succeeded  in  com- 
piling and  completing  an  accurate  record  of  Catholic  American  activity  during 
the  Great  War?" 

Reports  of  the  activities  of  the  committee  on  historical  records  were  made  to 
the  committee  on  special  war  activities,  usually  at  monthly  intervals,  the  first 
one  being  given  on  July  11,  1918.    These  reports  show  the  following  results : 

(A)    COMPLETION   OF   SERVICE   LISTS. 

In  May,  1918,  a  general  letter  was  sent  to  all  pastors  in  the  country,  request- 
ing a  list  of  the  men  in  the  service.  This  was  followed  in  August  by  a  second 
general  letter  calling  for  the  names  of  the  men  called  in  the  second  draft.  The 
cooperation  of  the  diocesan  chanceries  was  secured  in  collecting  the  names.  A 
card  index  of  the  parishes  which  reported  was  made  up,  the  card  for  each  parish 
containing  the  number  of  men  in  service  in  the  various  branches.  After  this 
analytical  index  was  completed  work  was  begun  on  a  card  index  containing  the 
service  record  of  each  Catholic  who  served.  The  results  thus  far  in  this  whole 
work  are  as  follows :  Parishes  reported,  4,815 ;  total  names  reported,  243,349 ; 
individual  service  cards  made,  58,310;  itemized  by  dioceses  in  the  following 
table : 

Individual  census  cards  written  to  April  1,  1920. 


Scranton 3,  338 

Wichita 219 

Wheeling 1,  875 

Wilmington 128 

Winona 267 

Belmont 37 

Alaska 34 

Ruthenian-Greek 36 


Baltimore . 4,  604 

Boston 24, 173 

Chicago 3,  548 

Dubuque 060 

Philadelphia 2,  951 

Altoona 3,  307 

Erie 827 

Harrisburg 941 

Peoria 635 

Pittsburgh 10,788  Total 58,310 

(B)    COLLECTION    OF    HISTORICAL    MATERIAL. 

1.  Catholic  newspapers. — Files  of  61  newspapers,  printed  in  the  English 
language  and  19  in  foreign  languages,  are  collected  in  the  periodical  department. 
These  files  are  more  or  less  complete  from  the  beginning  of  the  war.  A  card 
index  of  all  war  material  in  42  of  the  more  prominent  papers  has  been  completed 
up  to  July  1,  1919. 

2.  Catholic  magazines, — We  have  files  of  43  American  Catholic  magazines, 
printed  in  English  and  7  foreign-language  magazines,  together  with  15  college 
publications. 

25066°— 23 13 


194  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

3.  Episcopal  pronouncements. — A  number  of  the  heirarchy  have  sent  us  com- 
plete files  of  their  pronouncements  and  addresses  during  the  war.  From  many 
others  we  have  received  occasional  papers  of  importance. 

4.  Published  reports  of  Catholic  gatherings  incidental  to  the  war. — We  have 
gathered  through  the  Knights  of  Columbus  campaign  committee  and  through  the 
efforts  of  a  number  of  interested  indivcluals  newspaper  clippings  of  detailed 
meetings  held  by  Catholics  throughout  the  country.  These  clippings  approxi- 
mate 10,000  in  number.  In  addition  to  these  we  have  on  hand  upwards  of  1,000 
memorial  booklets  recounting  the  various  memorial  gatherings  held  in  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

5.  All  other  material. — Our  archives  contain  about  4,000  miscellaneous  papers, 
such  as  letters  of  historical  importance,  diaries,  reports  of  chaplains,  photo- 
graphs, etc.  These  have  all  been  indexed  analytically  and  filed  for  ready  refer- 
ence. Included  in  this  material  are  the  complete  files  of  the  war  council's 
committee,  which  handled  the  drive  for  funds  in  connection  with  the  committee 
or  other  war-service  agencies. 

(C)    PROBLEMS    OF   COOPERATION. 

The  work  of  the  other  committees  was  soon  found  to  be  cognate  to  each  other, 
but  not  of  that  distinctive  historical  bearing  which  necessitated  prompt  cooper- 
ation on  the  part  of  our  committee.  Had  this  cooperation  been  carried  out  in 
a  systematic  manner  each  one  of  the  standing  committees  needing  guidance  or 
accounts  of  the  work  being  done  should  have  delegated  one  of  its  own  staff  as 
a  searcher  in  their  periodical  department. 

II.  What  Remains  to  be  Accomplished. 

(A)    COMPLETION  OF  SERVICE  LISTS. 

It  is  estimated  that  fully  1,000,000  Catholic  Americans  served  their  country 
during  the  great  war.  As  we  already  have  the  names  of  approximately  250,- 
000,  it  remains  for  us  to  gather  in  the  records  of  750,000  more.  These  names 
are  to  be  secured  from  the  5,977  parishes  which  have  not  as  yet  sent  in  any 
report  and  from  the  4,815  parishes  which  reported,  since  many  of  those  lists 
were  sent  in  before  the  full  number  was  known.  These  remaining  names  should 
be  collected  in  the  following  manner: 

1.  Letters  should  be  sent  to  chancellors  of  all  dioceses  asking  for  any  lists 
they  may  have  on  file  and  for  assistance  in  securing  cooperation  of  pastors  in 
completing  the  census. 

2.  Letters  will  then  be  sent  to  every  parish  which  has  not  reported,  and 
follow-up  letters  will  be  sent  out  until  the  census  is  completed. 

3.  The  reports  received  will  be  analyzed  and  indexed  as  heretofore,  and  indi- 
vidual census  cards  will  be  written.  This  means  the  making  of  5,977  parish 
service  cards  and  approximately  940,000  individual  census  cards. 

4.  After  all  the  names  are  in  our  files  they  should  be  compared  with  the 
rosters  in  the  adjutant  general's  office  of  each  State,  in  order  to  secure  a  more 
complete  and  accurate  record  of  the  service  of  each  man. 

(B)    COLLECTION  OF  HISTORICAL  MATERIAL. 

1.  Catholic  newspapers. —  (a)  The  files  must  be  completed  by  securing  issues 
not  yet  received  covering  the  period  between  1914  and  the  present.  Where 
these  copies  can  not  be  secured  from  the  publisher  it  will  be  necessary  to  inter- 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  195 

est  subscribers  to  send  in  the  papers  we  need.    This  has  been  done  already  in 
several  cases  with  good  results. 

(b)  Some  papers  have  never  been  received,  and  further  efforts  should  be 
made  to  secure  complete  files  for  the  period  of  the  war. 

(c)  The  card  indexing  of  war  material  in  all  these  papers  must  be  completed. 
To  do  this  it  will  be  necessary,  in  addition  to  having  some  one  to  catalogue  the 
English-language  papers,  to  solicit  the  assistance  of  persons  who  can  index  the 
war  items  in  French,  German,  Polish,  Bohemian,  and  other  foreign-language 
papers. 

2.  Catholic  magazines. — Steps  must  be  taken  to  complete  the  files  of  our 
magazines  and  to  make  up  an  index  of  the  war  articles  in  them. 

3.  Episcopal  pronouncements. — It  is  believed  that  it  will  now  be  possible  to 
secure  sets  of  Episcopal  pronouncements  from  each  diocese.  Those  already  re- 
ceived have  been  catalogued  and  additions  to  this  file  will  be  indexed  upon 
receipt. 

4.  Published  reports  of  Catholic  gatherings. — While  our  newspapers  and  other 
files  contain  a  great  many  such  reports,  a  much  larger  number  remain  unre- 
corded in  our  archives,  especially  those  reported  in  the  public  press.  In  order 
to  complete  our  archives  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  report  of  every  impor- 
tant Catholic  gathering  incidental  to  the  war. 

5.  All  other  material. — While  receipts  of  letters,  diaries,  photographs,  etc.,  so 
far  have  been  encouraging,  this  source  of  material  has  only  been  touched. 
Appeals  must  be  made  through  the  Catholic  press  and  through  pastors  to  make 
people  realize  the  necessity  of  furnishing  us  with  such  material.  In  addition 
to  our  request  for  complete  service  lists,  we  should  appeal  to  pastors  to  have 
their  parishioners  send  us  every  bit  of  material  of  possible  historical  interest. 

COOPERATION    WITH  OTHER   COMMITTEES. 

With  the  winding  up  of  the  other  standing  committees  of  the  Committee  on 
Special  War  Activities,  we  expect  to  secure  for  our  archives  the  files  of  these 
committees,  as  the  War  Council  archives  should  properly  be  in  the  custody  of 
the  Committee  on  Historical  Records. 

III.  Composition  of  the  History. 

With  all  the  necessary  material  in  hand,  properly  analyzed  and  indexed,  it 
will  be  possible  to  take  up  the  work  of  actually  writing  a  complete  scientific 
history  of  Catholic  American  activity  during  the  great  war.  The  tentative 
outline  for  this  comprehensive  work  is  as  follows : 

I.  Catholics  in  past  American  wars. 

II.  The  Catholic  Church  during  the  period  of  American  neutrality  (August, 
1914-April,  1917). 

III.  Catholics  and  the  call  to  arms — the  draft. 

IV.  Catholics  in  training  schools  and  camps. 

V.  Catholic  social,  educational,  recreational  work  in  the  camps. 

VI.  Catholics  at  the  front — the  Catholic  honor  roll. 

VII.  The  organization  of  Catholic  relief,  national  and  local. 

VIII.  Catholic  cooperation  with  national  and  State  war  administration. 

IX.  Catholics  at  home  during  the  war — the  fight  behind  the  lines. 

X.  Catholics  and  the  financing  of  the  war :  Liberty  loans,  war-saving  stamps, 
contributions  to  welfare  work,  etc. 

XI.  Catholic  contribution  to  allied  relief— e.  g.f  Belgium,  etc 


196  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

XII.  Catholic  women  and  the  war:  (a)  Catholics  in  the  Red  Cross  and  Army 
Nurse  Corps;  (b)  sisterhoods;  (c)  other  agencies  of  welfare  at  home  and 
abroad. 

XIII.  Catholic  students  in  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps. 

XIV.  Effects  of  the.  war  on  Catholic  life  in  America. 

XV.  Catholics  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Michael  Williams,  editor  of  the  National  Catholic  War  Council  Bulletin, 
is  now  preparing  a  story  of  Catholic  participation  in  the  war,  which  will  con- 
sist of  about  400  pages  of  text  and  will  be  published  September  l.20  This  book 
will  outline  in  narrative  form  the  record  of  American  Catholic  activity  during 
the  war  in  all  its  phases,  and  will  be  a  companion  volume  to  the  recently  pub- 
lished Knights  of  Columbus  book.21  While,  of  course,  it  will  not  be  exhaustive, 
it  will  be  as  accurate  as  possible,  and  will  furnish  a  very  good  starting  point 
for  the  complete  record  which  we  hope  to  publish  eventually. 

THE  COLLECTION  OF  JEWISH  WAR  RECORDS. 

By  Julian  Laevitt,  Director  Office  of  War  Records,  American  Jewish 

Committee. 

The  establishment  of  a  historical  record  of  Jewish  service  in  the 
war  was  undertaken  in  November,  1917,  by  the  American  Jewish 
Committee,  acting  in  cooperation  with  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board, 
the  American  Jewish  Historical  Societ}^  the  Jewish  Publication 
Society,  and  other  related  organizations,  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  Dr.  Cyrus  Adler. 

The  actual  search  for  material  was  attended  with  problems  of 
exceptional  difficulty.  As  is  well  known,  the  official  records  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  were  not  accessible  during  the  war ;  and  even  if  they 
had  been  accessible  they  would  have  been  of  comparatively  slight 
value  in  the  initial  stages  of  the  undertaking,  as  they  make  no  note 
of  religious  affiliations.  Unofficial  lists  were  not  in  existence.  The 
Jews  in  the  service  came  from  every  section,  city,  and  village  in  the 
country,  were  scattered  in  every  branch  of  the  service,  and  in  many 
cases  were  not  affiliated  with  any  known  Jewish  organizations  or 
institutions.  The  combing  out  of  their  names  involved,  therefore, 
the  organization  of  a  systematic  search  among  the  men  in  the  camps 
and  at  the  front  and  among  their  friends  and  relatives  at  home. 
The  Jewish  Welfare  Board  assumed  the  first  part  of  the  task,  in- 
structing its  workers  in  America  and  overseas  to  forward  all  in- 
formation of  a  statistical  character  gathered  by  or  known  to  them, 
including  religious  censuses  taken  by  the  board  or  by  their  agencies, 
furlough  records  for  Jewish  holidays,  and  individual  registration 
cards  signed  by  the  Jewish  soldiers  in  the  welfare  huts.  The  office 
of  Jewish  war  records,  on  the  other  hand,  concentrated  upon  the 
families  and  friends  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  United  States. 
To  this  end  it  enlisted  the  cooperation  of  all  religious,  fraternal, 

20  American  Catholics  in  the  War.     New  York,  1921. 

a  The  Knights  of  Columbus  in  Peace  and  War.     New  Haven,  Conn.,  1920. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WORLD   WAR.  197 

industrial,  and  labor  organizations  throughout  the  country,  distribut- 
ing among  them  several  million  registration  cards  calling  for  in- 
formation as  to  name  of  soldier;  home  and  service  address;  age, 
nativity,  branch  of  service,  rank,  regiment,  company;  date  of  in- 
duction, or  discharge,  whether  volunteered  or  drafted;  in  what 
actions  engaged,  and  whether  wounded,  cited,  or  promoted. 

In  addition  the  office  instituted  a  press-clipping  service  for  the  col- 
lection of  data  as  to  all  reports  of  enlistments,  service-flag  dedica- 
tions, honor  rolls,  and  all  other  possible  sources  of  information. 
All  Army  orders  and  assignments,  casualty  lists,  the  records  of  local 
draft  boards,  Red  Cross  lists,  and  similar  sources  were  thoroughly 
searched  and  followed  up  for  possible  clues. 

From  all  these  sources  there  were  collected  more  than  500,000 
records,  which  were  carefully  collated,  and,  after  duplicates  were 
eliminated,  copied  in  triplicate,  and  filed  in  three  separate  cata- 
logues— one  arranged  alphabetically  and  so  devised  as  to  bring 
together  automatically  all  variant  forms  of  names  which  are  espe* 
dally  liable  to  misplacements  because  of  common  errors  in  reporting, 
copying,  or  transliterating;  another  catalogue  arranged  by  branches 
of  the  service,  with  officers  and  honor  men  "  signaled  " ;  and  a  third 
arranged  by  States,  cities,  and  towns. 

At  present  the  collection  covers  about- 150,000  records  of  individual 
soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines,  freed  of  all  duplications;  about  25,000 
press  clippings  systematically  arranged;  numerous  photographs; 
letters  and  documents  of  historical  value ;  and  about  8,000  question- 
naires (holographic,  with  few  exceptions)  embodying  the  following 
information  as  to  commissioned  officers,  casualties,  and  citations: 

1.  Name  in  full. 

2.  Present  service  or  business  address. 

3.  Legal  residence. 

4.  Date  and  place  of  birth. 

5.  Birthplace  of  parents. 

6.  Education. 

7.  Brief  summary  of  civilian  career  before  joining  service. 

8.  Full  name  and  highest  rank. 

9.  Arm  of  service. 

10.  Branch. 

11.  Method  of  entrance  into  service. 

12.  Date  of  entrance  into  service. 

13.  Rank  or  rating  upon  entrance  into  service  and  first  organiza- 
tion, unit,  station,  or  ship. 

14.  Date  of  leaving  service.     (If  still  in  service,  so  state.) 

15.  Highest  rank  or  rating  and  last  organization,  unit,  station,  or 
ship. 


198  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

16.  Promotions  or  official  recommendations  for  promotion  received, 
with  dates  thereof. 

17.  Length  of  time  spent  overseas  or  afloat,  counting  toward  service 
chevrons. 

18.  Duties  and  general  location  of  organization,  unit,  or  ship. 

19.  Participated  in  the  following  actions. 

20.  Honors,  medals,  citations,  official  expressions  of  appreciation 
or  thanks,  etc. 

21.  Casualty.  (Circumstantial  details  as  to  nature  of  casualty, 
time  and  place,  name  of  hospital,  etc.) 

22.  Summary  of  service  record  in  form  of  chronological  statement 
of  official  movements  and  duties.  (Wherever  possible,  send  photo- 
graphs, diaries,  copies  of  official  citations,  etc.) 

As  the  process  of  gathering  and  verifying  the  data  is  still  under- 
way, it  is  as  yet  impossible  to  furnish  definitive  figures  bearing  upon 
the  record  of  American  Jews  in  the  war.  Certain  preliminary  find- 
ings have,  however,  been  published  in  the  first  and  second  reports  of 
this  office,  which  may  be  had  upon  application  to  the  American 
Jewish  committee,  31  Union  Square,  New  York  City. 

THE  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  STATE  WAR  HISTORY  ORGANI-  ': 

ZATIONS. 

i 

Responding  to  the  call  of  Dr.  James  Sullivan,  State  historian  of 
New  York,  representatives  of  the  war  history  organizations  of  16 
States  met  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  September,  1919,  to  discuss  prob- 
lems confronting  them  in  the  collection  and  compilation  of  the  rec- 
ords of  the  participation  of  their  respective  States  in  the  World  War, 
and  in  particular  to  determine  the  most  effective  and  economical 
means  of  procuring  information  from  the  national  archives.  The 
immediate  outcome  of  the  deliberations  was  the  establishment  of  the 
National  Association  of  State  War  History  Organizations  with  the 
following  constitution : 

I.  The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  the  National  Association  of  State 
War  History  Organizations. 

II.  The  headquarters  of  the  association  shall  be  located  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

III.  The  purpose  of  the  association  shall  be  to  facilitate  the  gathering  of 
historical  materials  relating  to  the  participation  of  the  several  States  in  the 
World  War  from  the  archives  of  the  United  States  Government  and  other  cen- 
tral depositories,  and  to  provide  for  the  exchange  of  publications  and  informa- 
tion among  the  members. 

IV.  The  membership  of  the  association  shall  be  limited  to  any  official  organi- 
zation or  agency  in  each  State  or  Territory  of  the  Union  empowered  to  collect 
material  pertaining  to  the  World  War. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  199 

V.  The  officers  of  the  association  shall  be  a  president,  a  vice  president,  and  a 
secretary-treasurer,  no  two  of  whom  shall  be  from  the  same  State  or  Territory. 
The  duties  of  these  officers  shall  be  those  usually  appertaining  to  their  respec- 
tive offices. 

VI.  The  executive  committee  shall  consist  of  the  officers  of  the  association  and 
two  additional  members  elected  by  the  association.     Meetings  of  the  executive 

;  committee  shall  be  held  on  call  of  the  president,  or  upon  the  written  request  of 
any  three  members  of  the  committee.  This  committee  shall  be  empowered  to 
make  provision  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  this  association. 

VII.  The  annual  meeting  shall  be  held  in  April  of  each  year  in  the  city  of 
Washington.  Special  meetings  may  be  called  by  the  executive  committee,  and 
shall  be  called  upon  the  written  request  of  10  members. 

VIII.  The  officers  and  two  elective  members  of  the  executive  committee  shall 
be  chosen  each  year  at  the  annual  meeting. 

IX.  A  quorum  for  a  meeting  of  the  association  shall  consist  of  a  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  association.  A  quorum  for  a  meeting  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee shall  be  three. 

X.  This  association  shall  come  into  existence  as  soon  as  10  official  organiza- 
tions have  joined.  There  shall  be  an  annual  membership  fee  of  $200  for  each 
member  of  this  association,  payable  in  advance.  The  funds  of  this  association 
shall  be  expended  at  the  direction  of  the  executive  committee,  subject  to  any 
specific  instructions  of  the  association. 

Dr.  Newton  D.  Mereness,  director  of  research  of  the  association 
in  Washington,  has  made  a  preliminary  survey  of  the  records 
in  the  national  depositories  which  may  be  considered  of  value  to 
State  war  history  organizations.  The  report  of  this  survey,  with 
three  appendixes,  is  a  document  of  126  typewritten  pages.  A  more 
detailed  study  of  the  records  of  the  Food  Administration,  the  Ship- 
ping Board,  and  of  the  hearings  before  the  House  and  Senate  com- 
mittees, is  well  underway.  The  number  of  inquiries  coming  to  the 
Washington  office  is  growing  steadily  and  attention  to  a  request  from 
some  one  State  has  often  been  a  means  of  acquiring  information  of 
value  to  other  States.  There  is  also  being  assembled  in  the  Wash- 
ington office  a  small  collection  of  documents,  any  one  of  which  may, 
upon  application,  be  loaned  to  a  member  of  the  association. 

THE  AMERICAN-  LEGION". 

By  Eben  Putnam,  National  Historian. 

Such  activities  of  the  American  Legion  as  might  be  classed  as 
"  along  historical  lines  "  have  been  to  the  present  time  chiefly  co- 
operation with  organizations  established  for  the  purpose  of  collect- 
ing and  preserving  data  relating  to  the  World  War.  The  American 
Legion  is  the  largest  organization  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  and  its 
activities  are  manifold.  It  is  essentially  an  organization  of  young 
men,  men  from  every  walk  in  life,  individually  holding  varying 


200  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

ideas  with  regard  to  matters  generally,  but  unanimous  in  their  love 
for  their  country.  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
organization  along  with  its  welfare  committees,  and  the  usual  activi- 
ties of  an  organization  of  veterans  of  the  military  and  naval  services 
has  developed  plans  for  increasing  the  interest  every  veteran  should 
have  in  his  country's  history  and  his  community  and  for  inculcat- 
ing American  ideas  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  alien  resident 
with  us. 

The  former  is  handled  through  the  department  and  post  historians, 
the  latter  through  the  Americanization  committees  of  the  national 
and  departmental  organizations. 

Nearly  every  department  and  nearly  every  post  of  the  American 
Legion  has  provided  for  the  office  of  historian,  and  nearly  every  one 
of  these  has  filled  that  office  by  election.  The  constitution  of  the 
national  organization  did  not  provide  for  such  an  officer,  and  when 
the  need  arose  for  a  national  official  who  might  aid  in  coordinating 
the  efforts  of  the  department  historians,  the  executive  officers  of  the 
legion  selected  the  historian  of  the  Massachusetts  department  to  acti 
as  national  historian.22 

The  legion  historians  are  primarily  concerned  in  preserving  data, 
pertaining  to  the  history  of  their  respective  units ;  that  is,  the  depart- 
ment or  post.  The  post  historian  is  particularly  concerned  in  col- 
lecting data  concerning  the  members  of  the  post,  especially  their 
service  in  the  war. 

Most  of  these  department  and  post  officers  have  had  no  training; 
in  historical  work  and  have  had  to  be  instructed  with  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  should  perform  their  duties.  It  has  been  the 
policy  of  the  national  organization  to  urge  the  local  legion  historians 
to  cooperate  with  whatever  agency  was  in  existence  for  preserving 
data  relating  to  the  war.  In  many  instances  this  policy  has  been 
carried  out  with  considerable  success.  Town  war-history  committees, 
State  and  county  war-history  organizations,  local  libraries,  and 
historical  societies  have  benefited  by  the  help  given  by  the  legion 
organizations.  As  time  passes  and  as  the  various  posts  become  more 
stable  in  their  membership  the  cooperation  between  the  legion  posts 
and  local  historical  organizations  will  increase. 

The  American  Legion  is  as  yet  a  young  organization.     Its  policies 
along  lines  of  historical  work  have  yet  to  be  established.     So  far  it 
has  assisted  in  the  collection  of  the  records,  service  and  family,  of  1 
its  members;  the  collection  of  data  concerning  the  relatives  of  men 

22 At   the   second  national    convention   the   constitution   of   the   American   Legion    was: 
amended  to  provide  for  a  "  National  Historian  "  elected  by  the  National  Executive  Com- 
mittee, which  body  prescribes  his  duties.     Eben  Putnam  was  chosen  to  the  office  thus 
established. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  201 

who  died  in  the  service ;  the  compilation  of  a  complete  report  of  all 
persons  who  died  in  the  service;  the  collection  of  materials  for  mu- 
seum exhibits  (loaned  by  legion  members  or  others  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  legion) ;  and  the  sponsoring  of  movements  for  the 
erection  of  proper  war  memorials. 

The  work  which  it  has  been  suggested  might  be  done  by  depart- 
ment and  post  historians  is  best  learned  by  the  annexed  bulletins, 
the  first  intended  for  department,  the  second  for  post  historians. 
Ln  many  cases  the  recipient  of  these  bulletins  has  adopted  the  sugges- 
tions with  enthusiasm  and  has  succeeded  in  accomplishing  a  sub- 
stantial beginning. 

As  this  note  will  doubtless  reach  the  hands  of  secretaries  and  other 
>mcers  of  historical  societies  throughout  the  country,  it  is  hoped  that 
they  will  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  American  Legion  is  willing  to 
lielp  in  the  great  task  of  collecting  data  for  the  history  of  the  part 
Laken  by  towns  and  other  communities  in  the  war  and  will  inform 
themselves  of  the  address  of  the  post  historians  in  their  vicinity 
and  obtain  their  cooperation  in  this  work.  Under  proper  guidance 
sjreat  assistance  can  doubtless  be  obtained  from  the  legion  posts. 

Appendix. 

The  American  Legion,   National  Headquarters,   Meridian   Life   Building, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. — Bulletin. 

June  11,  1920. 
Drganization  No.  50. 
Subject :  Department  historian,  duties  of. 

1.  The  duties  of  the  department  historian  should  bring  him  in  touch  with 
national  headquarters,  post  officials,  and  with  Federal,  State,  and  local  organi- 
sations concerned  in  collecting  data  pertaining  to  the  war,  its  preservation 
ind  utilization. 

2.  These  duties  naturally  divide  themselves  under  the  following  heads: 
Annalist,  necrologist,  archivist,  librarian,  cabinet  keeper. 

(A)  Annalist:  The  department  historian  is  an  annalist,  inasmuch  as  he 
makes  a  report  yearly  of  an  historical  nature.  These  yearly  reports  over  a 
aumber  of  years,  the  annals  of  the  department,  should  be  an  inspiration  and 
?uide  to  the  historian  who  in  years  to  come  will  write  the  history  of  the 
department.  The  yearly  report  should  summarize  (a)  department  activities; 
(o)  post  activities. 

(B)  Necrologist:  As  necrologist,  the  department  historian  should  preserve 
obituary  notices  of  department  officials,  important  members  of  the  legion  who 
have  died  within  the  department,  and  of  officers  of  posts  who  died  in  office.  He 
should  have  a  complete  list  of  all  members  of  the  legion  who  have  died  within 
the  department,  with  statement  of  their  service  and  what  can  be  ascertained 
concerning  their  life  and  their  immediate  family. 


202  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

(C)  Archivist  and  librarian:  The  department  historian  should  have  charg 
of  all  printed  and  manuscript  materials  dealing  with  the  World  War,  or  an! 
other  subjects,  which  come  into  possession  of  the  department  headquarter* 
All  department  records  not  in  current  use  should  pass  into  his  charge.  Record 
of  dormant  or  defunct  posts  should  be  turned  over  to  the  care  of  the  depari 
ment  historian.  He  should  be  consulted  by  posts  planning  to  make  collection 
pertaining  to  the  war,  and  with  regard  to  selection  of  depositories,  shoul 
posts  determine  to  part  with  any  collections. 

(D)  Cabinet  keeper:  All  articles  other  than  printed  or  written  narrative 
and  books,  such  as  relics,  souvenirs,  things  of  curious  and  interesting  natun 
such  as  naturally  would  find  a  place  of  rest  in  a  museum,  which  come  int 
possession  of  the  department  headquarters  should  pass  to  the  care  of  tli 
department  historian.  A  collection  of  this  nature  would  form  in  time 
museum.    The  term  cabinet  keeper  is  used  in  the  sense  of  curator. 

3.  It  is  essential  that  the  department  historian  should  communicate  wit 
post  historians  as  occasion  demands.  He  should  have  knowledge  of  local  coi 
ditions  existing  wherever  a  post  is  situated,  in  order  that  he  may  be  in 
position  to  advise  the  post  historian  regarding  the  best  method  of  carrying  o 
his  work.  To  this  end  information  should  be  sought  of  local  post  officials,  t 
discover  whether  there  exist  local  organizations  which  could  cooperate  with  th 
post. 

4.  The  department  historian  should  be  informed  concerning  the  existence  an 
activities  of  organizations  which  are  gathering  information  concerning  th 
war.  He  should  cooperate  with  State  commissions,  historical  societies,  an' 
libraries  engaged  in  this  work.  He  should  see  that  proper  recognition  is  e^ 
tended  to  him  as  representing  the  American  Legion  in  the  department,  so  th^ 
the  American  Legion,  representing  ex-service  men  and  women,  will  be  consults 
with  regard  to  the  work  these  bodies  carry  on. 

5.  Whatever  publications  of  a  nature  affecting  the  legion  in  the  department  ar 
issued  by  public  authority  should  be  filed  with  the  department  historian.  H 
should  endeavor  to  obtain  copies  of  all  publications  issued  within  the  depari 
ment  which  relate  to  participation  in  the  war,  preparation  for  war,  and  result 
ing  effects.  The  collection  of  such  material  should  be  carried  on  in  no  narro" 
spirit,  rather  too  much  than  too  little. 

6.  The  department  historian  should  report  at  stated  intervals  to  the  nationi 
adjutant.    These  reports  should  cover: 

(a)  Principal  features  of  his  work  as  department  historian  since  last  repor 
and  development  of  work  formerly  reported  as  in  progress. 

(6)  What  laws  or  legislative  acts  concern  the  collection  and  preservation  o 
data  concerning  the  part  the  State  has  taken  in  the  war,  what  changes  ma 
have  been  made  or  are  in  contemplation,  with  remarks  pertinent  to  the  subject 

(c)  What  commissions  are  in  existence,  or  contemplated,  dealing  wit 
matters  which  should  come  under  his  observation,  and  what  is  being  accon 
plished  by  these  commissions. 

7.  The  annual  report  of  the  department  historian  should  be  in  print,  an 
copies  distributed  to  national  headquarters,  the  various  department  historian? 
all  posts  within  the  department,  and  such  libraries  and  other  places  of  deposi 
as  may  desire  them.  In  case  the  annual  report  is  not  printed,  duplicate  copie 
should  be  filed  at  national  headquarters. 

8.  Attention  is  directed  to  a  bulletin  entitled  "  Notes  on  historical  work 
submitted  to  national  headquarters  by  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society,  copie 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  203 

of  which  may  be  had  upon  application  to  the  organization  division,  national 
headquarters,  and  which  every  department  historian  is  requested  to  procure 
and  place  on  file. 

9.  In  order  that  department  historians  may  familiarize  themselves  with  some 
of  the  activities  of  State  war  record  commissions,  they  are  advised  that  by  appli- 
cation to  Prof.  A.  E.  McKinley,  secretary  of  the  National  Association  of  State 
War  History  Organizations,  1300  Locust  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  information 
may  be  obtained  concerning  matters  of  interest.  Also,  that  a  summary  of  the 
proceedings  and  publications  of  the  various  units  eligible  to  membership  in  the 
above  association  was  printed  in  the  October,  1919,  American  Historical  Review 
(address  Woodward  Building,  Washington,  D.  C),  under  the  title,  "The  col- 
lection of  State  war  service  records."  Membership  in  the  American  Historical 
Association  is  suggested  as  an  aid  to  keeping  in  touch  with  historical  conditions 
throughout  the  country. 

10.  National  headquarters  of  the  American  Legion  has  been  very  ably  assisted 
in  preparing  the  outlines  of  all  historical  work  by  Eben  Putnam,  department 
historian  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Putnam  will  very  gladly  give  any  assistance 
desired.    Address  any  requests  to  him  at  Wellesley  Farms,  Mass. 

Lemuel  Bolles, 
National  Adjutant. 

The  American  Legion,  National  Headquarters,  Meridian  Life  Building,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. — Bulletin. 

July  19,  1920. 
Organization  No.  54. 
Subject:  Post  historian,  duties  of. 

1.  The  post  historian  should  be  selected  for  his  interest,  his  methodical  habit, 
his  intelligence,  and  tactfulness.  These  are  fundamental  requirements  for  the 
position,  which  is  one  of  no  light  duties  and  responsibilities.  Faithfulness  in 
the  face  of  repeated  discouragements  will  be  found  to  be  an  essential  qualifica- 
tion, but  eventually  the  work  accomplished  by  the  post  historian  will  be  found 
to  be  not  only  of  importance  but  increasing  interest  and  value. 

2.  The  post  historian  can  well  bear  in  mind  the  words  of  the  department  his- 
torian of  Iowa,  "  the  patriotic  duty  of  the  hour  is  the  collection  and  preservation 
of  the  historical  materials  relating  to  the  World  War."  Ten  years  from  now 
the  work  of  the  historian  will  be  more  appreciated  than  it  is  to-day. 

3.  The  work  of  historian  can  be  best  performed  in  small  to  medium  sized 
posts.  Large  posts  should  make  provision  to  distribute  the  work  of  post  his- 
torian among  several  members,  appointing  committees  to  assist  the  historian, 
each  member  to  have  charge  of  certain  sections.  As  post  historians  serve  with- 
out pay,  have  duties  which  if  properly  performed  must  interfere  largely  with 
their  leisure  hours,  too  much  can  not  be  expected  of  them. 

4.  The  duties  of  the  post  historian  affords  a  wide  field  of  activity.  There 
should  be  close  and  effective  cooperation  between  the  adjutant  and  historian; 
the  work  of  one  supplements  that  of  the  other. 

5.  The  average  community  will  quickly  respond  to  well-directed  efforts  of  the 
post  historian ;  his  work  will  interest  people  in  the  post  and  will  help  the  post 
and  the  community  as  well.  Do  not  fail  to  realize  that  if  valued  letters  and 
other  materials  are  loaned  or  given  to  the  post  for  preservation  there  is  created 
an  obligation  which  is  sacred  and  which  should  be  lived  up  to.    Here  the  post 


204 


AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


historian  is  responsible,  for  he  should,  as  a  rule,  have  charge  of  collection  of 
materials  of  historical  nature. 

6.  Some  of  the  duties  of  the  post  historians : 

(c)  Obtain  from  each  member  as  complete  as  possible  a  statement  of  his 
or  her  participation  in  the  war.  It  is  advisable  not  to  confine  the  work  to  mem- 
bers only.  Complete  records  of  every  person  eligible  to  membership  should  be 
secured.  Interest  the  families  of  the  men  and  women  who  served,  and  through 
their  help  much  valuable  information  and  material  can  be  collected. 

(&)  Get  information  regarding  the  family  affiliation  of  members,  also  suffi- 
cient facts  concerning  their  life  before  and  since  the  war  to  enable  a  brief  but 
satisfactory  biographical  notice  to  be  prepared  should  the  occasion  arise. 
Eventually  it  may  be  desired  to  publish  a  post  history,  in  which  case,  unless 
attention  is  given  these  matters  as  members  are  received,  needed  information 
will  be  lacking. 

(c)  Obtain  copies  of  letters,  extracts  from  diaries,  written  while  in  the  serv- 
ice, copies  of  orders  affecting  any  post  member  relating  to  decorations,  cita- 
tions, etc. 

(d)  Obtain  information  regarding  those  who  died  in  the  service,  who  if  liv- 
ing would  be  eligible  to  membership.  An  honor  roll  containing  the  names  of 
those  who  died  in  the  service  should  be  in  every  post  headquarters.  Permission 
might  well  be  sought  of  their  next  of  kin  to  enroll  their  names  as  charter 
members. 

(e)  Cooperate  with  the  local  historical  society,  the  local  library  if  such  or- 
ganizations exist.  If  they  have  done  nothing  along  the  lines  of  collecting  data 
concerning  the  town's  part  in  the  war,  try  to  stimulate  and  develop  a  proper  in- 
terest in  your  work,  and  obtain  their  cooperation.  Seek  information  from  the 
county  or  State  historical  society,  or  from  the  war  records  commission,  if  one 
is  appointed  in  your  State.  Representatives  of  such  organizations  will  be  very 
glad  to  help  advance  your  work. 

(f)  Keep  informed  regarding  the  activities  of  the  post,  especially  of  matters 
which  should  be  mentioned  in  the  annual  report  of  the  historian.  Do  not  de- 
pend upon  the  formal  records  of  the  adjutant ;  file  everything  which  is  printed 
concerning  the  post. 

(g)  Keep  in  touch  with  the  department  historian;  be  prompt  to  answer  in- 
quiries; be  prepared  to  make  your  annual  report  to  the  department  historian 
when  called  upon  before  the  annual  department  convention. 

7.  National  headquarters  has  compiled  a  form  for  the  use  of  post  historians 
in  gathering  the  individual  records,  and  sample  copies  may  be  obtained  upon 
request. 

8.  The  above  suggestions  were  compiled  by  our  acting  national  historian, 
Eben  Putnam,  of  Wellesley  Farms,  Mass.,  and  approved  by  national  head- 
quarters. 

Lemuel  Bolles, 
National  Adjutant. 
ARIZONA. 

By  H.  A.  Hubbard,  of  the  Department  of  History,  University  of  Arizona. 

The  various  departments  of  the  University  of  Arizona  cooperated 
in  a  course  of  lectures  to  the  student  body,  and  an  outline  of  the 
entire  course  was  prepared  by  these  departments  under  the  direction 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  205 

of  Miss  Frances  Perry,  head  of  the  department  of  English  com- 

P°Atnumber  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  gave  lectures  in  Tucson 
and  other  towns  of  the  State  on  the  historical  background  of  the  war. 
The  Arizona  Historical  and  Archaeological  Society  has  made  an 
effort  to  have  all  the  newspapers  of  the  State  bound  and  filed,  so 
that  this  record  may  be  permanently  preserved.  A  meeting  has  been 
called  to  attempt  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  various  organizations 
in  preserving  a  record  of  their  work. 

ARKANSAS. 

By  Daixas  T.  Hekndon,   Secretary  of  the  Arkansas  Historical  Commission, 
from  his  report  January.  1919,  to  the  Board  o£  Trustees. 

Now  that  the  Great  War  is  over,  even  though  it  be  but  a  few  days 
ago  that  the  guns  ceased  firing,  it  would  seem  to  be  not  a  day  too 
early  to  begin  maturing  and  executing  plans  for  salvaging  the 
history  of  Arkansas's  part  in  the  greatest  of  all  wars  for  right 
against  might-for  justice,  freedom,  and  peace."  Indeed,  to  have 
waited  until  after  the  war  was  won,  even  though  it  had  been  but  the 
day  after  peace;  to  begin  saving  material  for  the  history  of  the 
mighty  efforts  and  achievements  daily  in  process  about  us  now  all 
but  two  years  since,  would  have  been  in  our  present  circumstance, 
it  seems,  nothing  short  of  criminal  negligence.  „ 

The  particular  circumstance  here  to  which  reference  is  had-that 
circumstance  which  has  made  it  not  only  possible  but  also  a  duty,  at 
least  implied,  to  store  up  day  by  day  as  the  war  went  on  the  essential 
facts  of  Arkansas  history  actually  in  the  act  of  unfolding-is  the 
fact  that  the  State  maintains  a  department  of  public  archives  and 
history  under  the  form  and  title  of  the  Arkansas  History  Com- 
mission. In  peace  as  in  war,  in  times  of  stress  or  in  times  of  easy- 
going contentment,  the  business  of  the  commission  is  clearly  set 
down  in  words  to  this  effect:  Keep  always  reaching  out  hands  in 
every  direction,  guided  by  discriminating  eyes,  firmly  grasping  and 
ea-erly  gathering  in  such  information  as  will  in  aftertime  reveal 
the  essential  facts  of  the  history  of  all  those  sundry  activities  in  flux 
and  vital  to  the  material  and  spiritual  development  of  the  State  as 

a  whole.  ,  ,,       ,  .     , 

For  a  view  of  the  whole  mass  of  matter  saved  thus  far  as  seemingly 
material  to  the  history  of  the  State  in  the  war,  I  doubt  if  I  can  pos- 
sibly define  it  better  at  a  single  stroke  than  I  did  in  a  letter  of  date 


206  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

as  early  as  August,  1917,  addressed  the  State  council  of  defense.    Says 
that  letter  in  part : 

Nearly  everything  of  any  particular  significance  in  the  way  of  information 
concerning  the  status  or  movement  of  the  Arkansas  National  Guard  organiza- 
tions since  the  day  this  commission  first  began  its  work,  a  not  inconsiderable 
fund  of  information  revealed  in  dispatches  relating  to  the  mobilization  and  tour 
of  service  of  the  Arkansas  National  Guard  on  the  Mexican  border  last  year 
(1916),  as  well,  and  even  more  especially,  nearly  everything,  I  believe,  of  any 
importance  that  has  been  and  is  being  done  or  said  in  Arkansas  by  way  of 
preparation  for  war  since  the  declaration  against  Germany — we  have  made 
it  our  business  and  mean  to  continue  systematically  to  treasure  up  day  by  day 
in  the  public  archives  of  this  commission  agreeable  to  what  I  esteem  the  very 
best  practical  method  for  getting  at  the  facts  of  history  contained  in  the  daily 
news  and  sundry  contemporary  reports. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  now  one  turn  with  me  to  the  card  catalogue 
of  this  material;  if  one  but  scan  only  hastily  the  principal  subjects 
which  appear  at  the  top  of  each  card  in  the  file,  and  take  no  account 
for  the  moment  of  all  the  other  more  searching  details  set  out  in  the 
index  outline  obviously  suggestive  of  nearly  everything  of  any  bear- 
ing at  all  upon  the  war  where  in  any  manner  it  has  touched  Ar- 
kansas, here  it  is — a  copy  of  the  subjects  so  presented  in  the  order 
of  one's  a,  b,  c's : 

War,  the  Great — In  Arkansas:  Aliens;  Army;  Aviation;  Banks;  Boards  of 
commerce;  Cantonments;  Casualties;  Censorship;  Children;  Churches;  Civil 
War  veterans ;  Council  of  Defense ;  Court-martials ;  Daylight  saving ;  Declara- 
tion of  war ;  Decorations ;  Deserters ;  Discharges  ;  Discipline ;  Disloyalty ;  Dis- 
trict boards;  Draft;  Exemption  boards;  Farmers;  Flag,  the;  Food  Adminis- 
tration; Food  conservation;  Food  preparedness;  Foreign  born;  Fort  Roots; 
Four  Minute  Men ;  French  Orphans ;  Fuel  Administration ;  Fuel  conservation ; 
Give-a-bushel ;  Health  ;  Heroism  ;  Home  Guards ;  Hospitality ;  Hospitals ;  Indus- 
try ;  Insignia ;  Insurance ;  Jews ;  K.  of  C. ;  Labor ;  Legislature ;  Letters ;  Liberty 
loans ;  Libraries ;  Liquor ;  Loyalty ;  Medical  Corps ;  Members  of  Congress  ;  Mili- 
tary bands ;  Mining ;  National  airs ;  National  Guard ;  Navy ;  Navy  League ; 
Negroes ;  Newspapers ;  Patriotism  ;  Peace ;  Post  Office ;  Prisoners  of ;  Profiteer- 
ing ;  Promotions ;  Questionnaires ;  Reconstruction ;  Recreation ;  Red  Cross ; 
Relics ;  Salvation  Army ;  Sanitation ;  Schools ;  Schools  of  officers  ;  Service  flags ; 
Slackers ;  South,  the ;  Sports ;  Taxation  ;  Thrift ;  Transportation  ;  Tuberculosis ; 
Unfit,  the ;  Universal  service ;  Vice  commission ;  Volunteers ;  Valor  honored ; 
Weather ;  Woman's  service ;  Woman  suffragists ;  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Again,  if  one  were  actually  in  quest  of  information  about  any  one 
of  these  all  but  a  hundred  subjects  which  appear  in  the  aforesaid  out- 
line of  general  topics,  as,  let  us  say,  for  example,  the  Red  Cross,  then 
the  choice  of  material  even  now  at  one's  disposal  would  comprise  the 
following  articles,  and  many  more  besides : 

Red  Cross:  Parade  in  Little  Rock;  Tour  State;  Pulaski  County  Society  or- 
ganized; Story  of  growth;  State  must  do  its  part;  Drive  by  counties;  Why  it 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE   WORLD  WAR.  207 

should  be  helped;  Train  to  tour  State;  Pulaski  County  over  top  in  financial 
campaign  ;  To  raise  $5,000  in  Argenta  ;  One  thousand  members  march  in  parade ; 
State  gives  $664,000;  Fund  exhausted;  Hospital  unit  T  mobilized;  State's  quota 
of  subscriptions;  State's  quota  of  members,  325,000;  Campaign  manager  prays; 
Headquarters  opened  at  Hotel  Marion ;  In  time  of  disaster ;  Mass  meeting ; 
State's  work  for,  praised  ;  Raising  funds  for ;  State's  quota  oversubscribed ; 
Organize  for  Christmas  drive;  and  Pulaski  County;  State  surpasses  quota; 
Organize  for  selling  seals  of;  State  oversubscribes  quota;  Making  Christmas 
drive;  Carry  bundles  and  help;  Campaign  for  pure  milk;  Made  Navy  gar- 
ments; Workers  hold  rally,  etc. 

With  reference  to  the  matter  of  starting  a  World  War  museum  in 
connection  with  our  State  history  museum  work,  I  quote  the  follow- 
ing from  the  same  report: 

It  has  long  since  occurred  to  me  that,  at  the  proper  time,  measures  should 
be  taken  to  procure  for  the  history  museum  of  the  State  an  impressive  col- 
lection of  memorials  commemorative  of  the  deeds  and  experiences  of  Arkansas 
soldiers  in  camp  and  on  the  battlefields  of  France.  The  spirit,  if  not  indeed 
the  letter  of  the  law  to  which  our  State  museum  owes  its  existence,  seems 
ample  in  the  sweep  and  compass  of  its  aims  to  warrant  us  in  proceeding 
forthwith  to  negotiate  plans,  to  the  end  that  the  commission  be,  in  the  full- 
ness of  time,  fitted  out  handsomely  with  suitable  exhibits  of  the  war.  Agree- 
able to  that  view  of  the  provision  of  law  which  makes  it  "the  duty  of  the 
commission  to  collect  and  preserve  memorials  of  the  Mexican  and  Civil  Wars," 
and  otherwise  "  to  build  up  a  museum  at  the  capitol,"  I  have  written 
several  letters  to  friends  in  France  who,  I  thought,  might  possibly  be  in  a 
position  to  help  us  forward  such  a  plan.  The  following  letter,  for  example, 
written  and  posted  November  12,  the  day  after  peace  was  announced,  pur- 
poses the  minimum  of  what,  it  seems,  the  commission  ought  to  vouchsafe  upon 
this  head : 

"  Now  that  the  war  is  over — Little  Rock  celebrated  the  peace  only  yester- 
day, and  such  a  spontaneous  manifestation  of  happiness  I  never  expect  to 
see  again — I  venture  to  hope  the  stress  upon  you  has  somewhat  relaxed. 
Moreover,  the  times  now  seem  ripe  for  laying  out  certain  plans  as  regards  the 
work  of  the  history  commission,  which  I  believe  you  can  and  will  gladly  help 
us  perfect.    Whence  I  presume  to  write  you  at  this  juncture. 

"  Arkansas  will  want  and  must  have  a  *  War  Museum '  for  the  benefit  of 
those  of  us  now  living  and  those  to  come  after,  in  order  that  we  may  thus  be 
enabled  to  visualize  something  of  the  grim  realities  of  this  greatest,  no  doubt, 
of  all  wars.  We  have  the  place  to  equip  such  a  museum,  and  I  am  just  now 
getting  up  our  biennial  budget  of  recommendations  to  the  legislature,  which 
meets,  as  you  know,  in  January.  I  trust  the  commission  may  think  proper  to 
urge  an  appropriation  to  be  used  in  acquiring  the  necessary  collection  of 
memorials.  Wherefore,  I  am  writing  to  know  if  you  can  not  at  once  procure 
and  send  me  a  collection  of  material  such  as  you  may  think  proper,  said 
collection  to  be  set  aside,  marked  permanently,  as  your  personal  contribution. 
I  know  of  no  one  better  qualified  than  yourself  to  make  a  suitable  collection. 
If  you  can  do  this  thing  I  believe  it  will  be  a  service  never  to  be  forgotten; 
assuredly  I  shall  not  forget  it.  I  wish  you  might  start  a  large  box  moving 
this  way  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  I  shall  hope  to  hear  from  you 
very  shortly." 


208  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Agreeable  to  the  plans  set  out  above,  we  have  received  and  cata- 
logued nearly  a  thousand  relics  of  the  various  battlefields  in  France 
where  Arkansas  soldiers  and  other  Americans  participated  in  the 
Great  War.  The  following  introduction  to  the  catalogue  of  the 
aforesaid  souvenirs  of  the  Great  War  is  taken  from  my  last  annual 
report,  submitted  to  the  board  of  trustees  on  the  17th  of  this  January : 

The  exhibits  in  this  quarter  of  the  Arkansas  History  Commission  are  cata- 
logued below  by  sections  in  the  order  of  display,  the  first  cabinet  being  desig- 
nated cabinet  A.  Each  item  listed  is  accompanied  by  significant  descriptive 
matter,  which  has  been  carefully  selected  and  briefly  phrased  from  informal 
memoranda  furnished  the  director  of  the  department  by  Mr.  Gulley,  who,  at 
the  instance  and  request  of  the  history  commission,  made  the  collection  while 
in  France  in  the  employment  of  the  overseas  postal  service  of  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces.  It  was  and  is  the  aim  of  the  commission,  as  vouchsafed 
by  the  measures  taken  in  season  to  procure  this,  an  initial  collection,  to 
make  forthwith  a  beginning  in  the  matter  of  collecting  memorials  of  the  World 
War,  which  collection  is  here  distinctly  set  apart  as  a  World  War  museum. 
Such  a  museum,  to  which  it  is  hoped  may  be  added  hereafter  from  time  to 
time  other  more  significant  donations  touching  the  part  which  Arkansas  played 
in  the  war,  will  stand,  in  some  small  degree,  as  a  fitting  reminder  through  the 
years  to  come  of  the  spirit  of  patriotism  which  the  citizenship  of  Arkansas 
evinced  at  home  in  loyal  self-denial  and  in  deeds  of  valor  on  the  field  of  battle 
in  an  hour  when  the  mettle  of  every  man's  loyalty  to  the  Nation  was  tried  in 
the  fire  of  a  national  peril. 

The  history  men  of  Arkansas  took  charge  of  the  war  aims  course, 
which  was  given  to  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  They  were 
also  active  in  the  drives  for  the  sale  of  Liberty  bonds  and  for  the 
collection  of  funds  for  the  Red  Cross  and  other  war  agencies. 

CALIFORNIA. 

By  Genevieve  Ambrose,  Secretary,  War  History  Department,  California  His- 
torical Survey  Commission. 

The  formal  preparation,  during  the  progress  of  the  war,  of  his- 
tories of  the  organization  and  operation  of  different  branches  of  war 
service  began  when  the  war  history  committee  of  the  State  council 
of  defense  was  organized  in  March,  1918,  at  which  time  circulars 
were  sent  to  every  war  agency  advising  them  of  the  importance  of 
preserving  the  records  of  California's  part  in  the  war;  and  later,  in 
August,  1918,  there  was  sent  to  every  war  agency  in  the  State  a  re- 
quest for  a  comprehensive  report  of  its  activities.  Many  of  the  war 
agencies,  such  as  the  State  food  administration  and  the  Red  Cross, 
etc.,  diverted  a  part  of  their  staffs  to  the  preparation  of  the  histori- 
cal records,  and  other  war  agencies  requested  their  several  depart- 
ments to  furnish  complete  reports  of  their  particular  fields  of  work. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  209 

In  some  cases  the  official  annual  reports  of  the  organization  and 
operation  of  the  war  agencies  served  as  excellent  historical  records. 
It  has  been  discovered  recently  that  in  a  few  instances  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  war  history  started  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  State 
war  history  committee.  This  is  true  of  a  few  of  the  California  ex- 
emption boards.  One  local  board  in  particular,  realizing  the  im- 
portance of  the  preservation  of  war  records,  began  by  having  one  of 
the  local  papers  photograph  each  group  of  men  as  they  were  called 
by  the  board.  This  plan  was  carried  on  up  to  the  signing  of  the 
armistice  on  November  11, 1918,  in  order  to  secure  a  complete  gallery 
of  all  the  men  inducted  into  service. 

The  war  history  committee  of  the  State  council  of  defense,  the 
members  of  which  were  appointed  by  the  director  of  the  State  de- 
fense body  in  1918,  was  the  first  central  State  agency  to  undertake 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  California  war  records.  The 
plan  of  organization  called  for  the  formation,  under  the  direction 
of  the  executive  secretary  of  the  State  committee,  of  a  county  war 
history  committee  in  each  county  in  the  State.  Nominations  for  the 
members  and  chairmen  of  the  county  committees  were  usually  made 
by  the  chairman  of  the  county  division  of  the  State  council  of  de- 
fense to  the  executive  secretary  of  the  State  war  history  committee, 
and  by  him  submitted  to  the  director  of  the  State  council  of  defense, 
who  then  made  the  formal  appointments.  No  set  form  of  organiza- 
tion was  prescribed,  so  that  each  county  committee  was  created  as 
best  fitted  the  conditions  of  that  particular  county.  It  was  aimed 
to  have  on  each  county  committee  representatives  of  the  various  war 
agencies,  librarians,  editors,  history  teachers,  and  other  persons  who 
might  seem  best  qualified  to  render  assistance.  The  work  outlined 
by  the  State  war  history  committee  for  its  county  committees  was  of 
a  twofold  character :  First,  they  were  expected  to  prepare  reports  or 
contemporaneous  histories  dealing  with  local  war  activities,  and  to 
gather  and  compile  such  other  statistical  information  as  might  re- 
late to  the  part  taken  by  their  respective  counties  in  the  great  con- 
flict. Second,  they  were  expected  to  assemble  and  preserve  news- 
paper clippings,  war  programs,  war  addresses,  photographs,  manu- 
scripts, documents,  posters,  and  fleeting  war  history  material  of  every 
character.  Special  attention  was  directed  to  obtaining  biographical 
sketches  and  photographs  of  all  men  in  our  country's  service. 

Upon  organization,  which  occurred  before  the  termination  of 
hostilities  seemed  likely,  the  county  committee  was  expected  to  pre- 
pare an  exhaustive  and  detailed  history  of  the  county's  participation 
in  the  war  to  date,  with  quarterly  reports  in  the  future.  To  insure 
25066°— 23 14 


210  AMERTCAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

uniformity,  a  general  form  of  report  was  arranged,  in  which  were 
set  forth  the  various  war  activities  upon  which  a  detailed  report 
from  each  county  committee  was  desired,  among  which  were  Red 
Cross ;  liberty  loan,  war-saving  stamp,  and  thrift  drives ;  food  admin- 
istration; four-minute  men;  women's  organizations;  legal  aid  com- 
mittee; Americanization  committee;  war  community  council;  farm 
labor  committee ;  public  service  reserve ;  medical  and  dental  aid ;  Boy 
Scouts ;  soldiers'  welfare ;  rehabilitation  of  returned  soldiers ;  public 
health,  etc.  On  each  county  committee  one  person  was  designated 
as  historian  and  was  made  responsible  for  compiling  the  full  report 
for  the  county.  The  suggestion  was  made  by  the  State  war  history 
committee  that  the  county  historian  should  parcel  out  the  work  to 
representatives  of  the  war  agencies,  and  that  after  the  reports  of 
the  various  war  activities  had  been  assembled  the  full  report  should 
then  be  forwarded  to  the  State  war  history  committee.  The  State 
committee  prescribed  a  set  of  uniform  rules  regarding  the  reports 
and  records,  such  as  preserving  the  source  material  from  which 
various  reports  were  compiled,  using  a  uniform-size  page  for  the 
reports,  making  duplicate  copies  of  each  report,  noting  whether  or 
not  the  records  of  the  organization  considered  in  the  report  were 
kept  in  a  full  and  accurate  manner,  and  whether  or  not  there  was 
danger  of  their  being  lost  to  future  historians.  The  State  war 
history  committee  laid  great  stress  upon  the  importance  of  collect- 
ing biographical  sketches  and  photographs  of  all  men  in  the  service, 
and  suggested  the  cooperation  of  the  local  newspapers  in  every  com- 
munity to  make  this  collection  complete. 

On  January  31,  1919,  the  State  council  of  defense  formally  went 
out  of  existence,  at  which  time  its  various  committees  lost  their 
legal  status.  However,  the  executive  chairman  of  the  State  council 
of  defense,  on  the  date  of  the  council's  disbandment,  recommended 
that  certain  of  its  committees,  among  which  was  the  war  history 
committee,  be  continued  until  provision  could  be  made  for  their  sup- 
port by  other  existing  agencies.  The  work  of  the  war  history  com- 
mittee was  therefore  continued  and  largely  supported  by  the  State 
board  of  control,  where  it  was  located  until  July,  1919.  The  Cali- 
fornia Historical  Survey  Commission,  whose  secretary  was  appointed 
executive  secretary  of  the  war  history  committee,  also  devoted  a 
portion  of  its  funds  to  the  maintenance  of  the  war  history  work. 
During  the  interim  between  January  and  July  the  State  legislature 
met  and  enacted  a  law  which  placed  the  work  of  compiling  the  war 
records  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  California  Historical  Survey 
Commission,  where  it  was  duly  transferred  from  the  State  board  of 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  211 

control  on  August  1,  1919,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  war 
history  department  of  the  historical  survey  commission. 

The  plans  for  carrying  on  the  work  which  were  made  by  the  war 
history  committee  of  the  State  council  of  defense  have  been  followed 
in  the  main  by  the  war  history  department.  With  the  development 
of  the  work,  however,  it  has  been  necessary  to  make  a  few  changes. 
For  instance,  the  war  history  department  advocates  the  enlargement 
of  the  county  committee  to  include  representatives  of  the  following 
organizations:  Local  exemption  boards;  local  posts  of  the  American 
Legion;  local  press;  boards  of  trade  or  chambers  of  commerce;  board 
of  supervisors;  women's  clubs  (women  especially  active  in  war  work) ; 
librarians  (county  and  city)  ;  district  attorney.  In  addition  to 
this  list  the  county  committee  have  been  urged  to  secure  the  coopera- 
tion of  local  historians  and  historical  societies,  and  also  representa- 
tives of  educational  institutions  and  of  the  various  civilian  war 
activities.  The  county  chairmen  have  been  asked  to  make  the 
nomination  of  the  members  whom  they  wish  to  add  to  their  com- 
mittees to  the  secretary  of  the  war  history  department,  who  submits 
the  same  to  Gov.  William  D.  Stephens,  by  whom  formal  appoint- 
ments are  made.  The  county  committees  are  urgently  requested 
by  the  war  history  department  to  collect  all  records  and  reports  in 
duplicate,  so  that  one  set  may  be  retained  in  the  county  archives  and 
the  other  set  forwarded  to  the  war  history  department  for  lasting 
preservation  in  the  State  archives. 

Specific  plans  for  the  publication  of  the  material  which  is  col- 
lected are  now  underway,  and  the  proposal  has  been  made  that  each 
county  publish  its  own  Avar  history,  since  much  of  the  material  that 
will  be  of  vital  interest  to  the  counties  can  not  be  included  in  the 
State  resume  of  the  particular  county's  war  activities.  It  has  been 
suggested,  therefore,  that  a  bill  be  introduced  at  the  next  session  of 
the  State  legislature  that  will  provide  for  State  cooperation  with 
the  counties  in  the  publication  of  their  histories  to  the  extent  of  per- 
haps one-third  the  cost  of  said  publication.  The  majority  of  counties 
favor  this  plan  for  the  county  publication  and  feel  that  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  military  records  and  the  war  activities  of  the  citizens  of 
each  county  will  be,  in  future  years,  a  matter  of  tremendous  interest 
to  every  person  in  the  county. 

The  procedure  of  the  county  committees,  after  their  organization 
along  the  lines  above  mentioned,  is  much  the  same  as  that  outlined 
by  the  war  history  committee  of  the  State  council  of  defense.  For 
example,  the  war  history  department  recommends  that  each  member 
of  the  county  committee  be  assigned  the  task  of  collecting  or  super- 
vising the  collection  of  material  pertaining  to  one  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing 14  main  divisions  of  the  war  history  as  set  forth  in  the  "  Sug- 


212  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

gested  Outline  for  a  State  or  County  War  History,"  which  has  just 
been  issued : 

1.  Period  before  America's  entrance  in  war. 

2.  Military,  naval,  and  aviation  activities. 

3.  Agriculture  and  the  food  supply. 

4.  Industry  and  labor. 

5.  Commerce,  transportation,  and  communication. 

6.  War  finance  and  revenue. 

7.  Social,  welfare,  and  relief  agencies  and  work. 

8.  Education. 

9.  Religion  in  the  war. 

10.  Professional  men  and  women  in  war  work. 

11.  Women  in  the  war. 

12.  War  legislation  and  administration  of  government. 

13.  Public  opinion  and  the  war. 

14.  Post-war  period. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the  member  so  assigned  to  the 
one  or  more  particular  subjects  may  wish  to  associate  with  himself 
others  who  are  interested  in  or  have  valuable  information  of  the  par- 
ticular phase  of  the  war  history,  in  which  event  he  should  be  named 
the  chairman  of  a  subcommittee  composed  of  those  whom  he  wishes 
to  call  upon  for  cooperation  in  his  work.  The  suggestion  has  been 
made  also  by  the  war  history  department  that  subcommittees  of  the 
main  county  committee  be  organized  in  each  township  or  other  politi- 
cal subdivision. 

COLORADO. 
By  C.  C.  Eckhardt,  Department  of  History,  University  of  Colorado. 

Although  Colorado  was  as  remote  from  the  scenes  of  the  World 
War  and  suffered  as  little  physically  as  any  region  in  the  country, 
there  was  a  lively  interest  in  the  war  long  before  America  entered  the 
great  conflict,  and  once  the  Nation  had  determined  to  do  its  part  in  the 
titanic  struggle  there  were  many  in  the  State  that  felt  not  merely  the 
need  of  doing  what  they  could  to  give  the  public  information  as  to 
the  causes  and  meaning  of  the  war,  but  also  to  collect  and  preserve 
records  of  Colorado's  part  in  prosecuting  the  war. 

Prof.  M.  F.  Libby,  of  the  department  of  philosophy  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Colorado,  wrote  a  syllabus,  "War  Points  for  Americans, 
a  brief  statement  of  our  position  regarding  the  war,"  which  was  pub- 
lished by  the  National  Security  League. 

Prof.  C.  C.  Eckhardt,  of  the  history  department  of  the  University 
of  Colorado,  wrote  articles  on  "  The  Alsace-Lorraine  Question," 
"  The  North  Slesvig  or  Dano-German  Question,"  and  "  The  Old  Inter- 
nationalism and  the  New  League  of  Nations,"  which  appeared  in  the 
Scientific  Monthly  for  May,  1918,  and  January  and  May,  1919. 

The  various  libraries  of  the  State  posted  lists  of  books  and  articles 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  213 

on  the  war,  and  through  the  extension  division  and  the  library  of  the 
University  of  Colorado  many  hundreds  of  books  and  articles  were 
sent  to  all  parts  of  the  State  to  individuals,  clubs,  and  schools. 

Many  members  of  the  faculties  of  Denver  University,  Colorado 
College,  State  Teachers'  College,  the  Colorado  Agricultural  College, 
and  the  University  of  Colorado  gave  numerous  addresses  on  the  war 
and  its  origin.  Prof.  M.  F.  Libby,  of  the  University  of  Colorado, 
made  an  extensive  tour  in  the  Southern  States  giving  lectures  on  the 
war  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Security  League. 

In  1918  members  of  the  history  department  of  the  University  of 
Colorado  gave  courses  on  the  war :  Prof.  T.  M.  Marshall,  "  The 
United  States  and  the  War";  Dr.  Donald  McFayden,  "The  Diplo- 
matic Background  of  the  War  " ;  and  Prof.  Libby,  of  the  philosophy 
department  of  the  same  institution,  gave  a  course  on  the  war,  and 
after  the  armistice,  a  course  on  "  The  World  Outlook." 

The  University  of  Colorado  cooperated  with  the  State  council  of 
defense  in  gathering  war  records,  part  of  the  funds  for  which  being 
supplied  by  the  State  council  of  defense. 

The  University  of  Colorado  gathered  war  records  of  all  men  and 
women  in  the  service,  records  of  its  own  graduates  as  well  as  all 
others.  In  spite  of  the  persistent  efforts  of  Prof.  James  F.  Willard, 
head  of  the  history  department,  and  the  faithful  cooperation  of 
many  others  throughout  the  State,  this  work  is  by  no  means  com- 
plete. In  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  when  the  Mexicans  were 
asked  to  fill  out  these  war  record  blanks,  they  were  quite  suspicious, 
and  in  some  cases  refused  to  comply  with  the  request,  fearing  that 
they  were  filling  out  some  kind  of  registration  blank  for  a  new 
military  draft.  One  school  superintendent  in  a  number  of  cases 
took  the  sheriff  of  the  county  along  to  aid  in  securing  the  desired 
information  and  signature.  But  even  with  these  heroic  measures 
the  records  are  not  complete  for  that  district.  Elsewhere  our 
friends  report  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  responses  from  the  war 
veterans  or  their  families.  It  seems  much  easier  to  fight  for  victory 
than  to  fill  out  blanks  that  tell  about  it. 

The  most  extensive  and  comprehensive  undertaking  was  the  col- 
lection of  newspaper  clippings  on  war  activities  throughout  the 
State.  Over  a  hundred  newspapers  from  all  parts  of  Colorado  were 
sent  gratis  to  the  history  department  of  the  State  University.  Here, 
under  the  direction  of  Prof.  James  F.  Willard,  a  class  read  the 
papers,  made  clippings,  and  classified  them  as  to  general  State  ac- 
tivities, activities  of  the  various  counties,  the  subheadings  being  as 
follows:  Red  Cross,  food  and  fuel  consumption,  war  gardens, 
Knights  of  Columbus,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Liberty  loan,  Women's  Council 
of  Defense,  etc.  Great  quantities  of  information  were  thus  pre- 
served, but  owing  to  a  lack  of  funds  the  work  could  not  be  complete. 


214  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

The  State  historical  society  collected  copies  of  all  draft  lists,  and 
these  are  on  file  in  Denver  at  the  society's  headquarters,  as  are  also 
the  complete  records  of  the  Four-Minute  Men  of  some  parts  of  the 
State.  The  society  also  sent  out  questionnaires  to  men  and  women 
in  the  service,  these  being  distributed  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  Women's  Council  of 
Defense,  and  the  American  Legion.  The  society  also  sent  out  civilian 
questionnaires.  The  society  has  been  making  an  energetic  drive  to 
secure  photographs  of  the  men,  war  pictures  and  trophies,  letters 
and  diaries,  and  anything  else  connected  with  the  war. 

The  records  of  the  State  council  of  defense  and  the  Women's 
Council  of  Defense  are  preserved  with  the  State  historical  society. 
Duplicates  of  most  of  these  records  are  also  deposited  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Colorado. 

In  many  counties  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  keep  a  record  of 
the  men  in  the  service,  El  Paso,  Gunnison,  Boulder,  and  others 
really  succeeding,  while  in  the  remainder  of  the  counties  the  records 
are  incomplete. 

GEORGIA. 
By  Lucian  Lamar  Knight,  State  Historian. 

The  department  of  archives  and  history,  State  of  Georgia,  was 
created  less  than  two  years  ago  in  the  midst  of  the  great  World 
War,  and  while  trying  to  keep  an  observant  eye  on  the  international 
horizon  the  State  historian  and  director  of  the  department  was  also 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  assembling  together  in  one  place 
all  of  the  scattered  archives  of  the  State  capitol  for  permanent 
preservation,  safe  custody,  and  classification. 

In  conjunction  with  the  State  council  of  defense,  which  organiza- 
tion has  now  ceased  to  exist,  the  department  has  compiled  a  roster 
of  all  who  have  made  the  supreme  sacrifice,  whether  engaged  in 
service  on  land  or  water,  or  in  the  air,  from  the  State  of  Georgia.  It 
has  also  compiled  a  complete  list  of  Georgia  casualties,  including 
every  Georgia  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine  who  was  wounded  in  the 
service  of  the  United  'States. 

It  has  been  the  purpose,  only  partly  carried  out,  however,  to  gather 
together  all  information  concerning  the  effect  of  the  war  on  Georgia's 
social,  financial,  educational,  economic,  and  religious  condition;  the 
State's  attitude  toward  the  war;  local  activities,  etc. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  compile  a  roster  of  all  the  Georgia 
troops  enlisted,  because  such  an  effort  would  only  parallel,  with  poor 
success,  the  activities  of  the  United  States  Government  along  this 
line,  which,  under  an  act  of  Congress,  will  no  doubt  be  thorough  and 
can  be  secured  by  the  various  States  on  application. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  215 

However,  the  department  is  trying  to  secure  a  complete  list  of  all 
Georgia  boys  who,  prior  to  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United 
States,  enlisted  under  foreign  flags. 

ILLINOIS. 

By  Wayne  E.  Stevens,  Secretary  War  History  Section,  Illinois  State  Historical 

Library. 

Historical  activities  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  which  were  under- 
taken as  a  consequence  of  the  World  War,  may  be  conveniently 
considered  from  two  points  of  view — (1)  as  a  contribution  toward 
the  winning  of  the  war  and  the  arranging  of  a  lasting  peace;  (2)  as 
a  means  of  preserving  for  posterity  a  record  of  the  struggle  itself. 
In  many  specific  instances  these  two  phases  of  historical  activity  nec- 
essarily coincided,  but  the  distinction  is  a  convenient  one  and  has  been 
observed  in  the  preparation  of  this  survey. 

The  most  valuable  contribution  of  historians  to  the  winning  of  the 
war  was  unquestionably  the  molding  of  public  opinion  through  the 
dissemination  of  information  concerning  war  aims,  both  from  the 
lecture  platform  and  through  the  medium  of  the  press.  In  Illinois 
the  lead  was  taken  by  the  colleges  and  universities,  and  imme- 
diately upon  the  outbreak  of  war  sj^stematic  publicity  campaigns 
were  organized.  At  the  University  of  Illinois  a  war  committee  was 
authorized  in  December,  1917,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  spread 
information  concerning  the  war,  not  only  among  members  of  the 
universit}^  but  throughout  the  State.  Divisional  committees  were 
appointed  as  follows :  Publication  of  leaflets  and  pamphlets,  public- 
ity, talks  and  lectures  at  the  university,  and  lectures  throughout  the 
State.  Shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  a  committee  on  pub- 
licity was  organized  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  which  was  later 
divided  into  subcommittees  on  speakers  and  publications.  It  need 
scarcely  be  said  that  the  members  of  the  departments  of  history,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  closely  related  departments  of  political  science 
and  economics,  were  active  in  the  work  of  these  committees. 

Pamphlets  were  published,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  set  forth 
clearly,  and  with  a  strict  regard  for  accuracy,  the  issues  of  the  con- 
flict. Two  series  of  pamphlets  may  be  mentioned,  the  "University 
of  Chicago  War  Papers"23  and  the  "University  of  Illinois  War 
Leaflets."  The  first  series,  for  example,  included  such  titles  as  "  The 
Threat  of  German  World  Politics,"  "Americans  and  the  World 
Crisis,"  "  Sixteen  Causes  of  War,"  and  "  England  and  America." 
Many  of  these  pamphlets  were  published  in  large  editions  and  dis- 
tributed widely  throughout  the  State. 

■»  See  "  The  University  Press  and  the  War,"  in  University  Record,  January,  1919,  p.  106. 


216  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Illinois  educational  institutions  also  rendered  an  extremely  valu- 
able service  through  organized  public  speaking.  Shortly  after  the 
outbreak  of  war,  a  speaking  campaign  was  opened  at  the  University 
of  Chicago  by  a  series  of  lectures  on  "  Why  We  are  at  War." 24  At 
the  University  of  Illinois,  a  series  of  lectures  on  war  subjects  was 
given  by  members  of  the  department  of  history,  which  was  later  sup- 
plemented by  addresses  arranged  by  the  committee  on  talks  and  lec- 
tures. There  were  also  occasional  lectures  on  historical  topics  con- 
nected with  the  war  by  visitors  at  the  University,  while  faculty 
members  spoke  from  time  to  time  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  At 
the  same  institution  there  was  a  committee  on  extension  lectures, 
which  arranged  for  a  series  of  talks  to  the  soldiers  at  Camp  Grant 
by  members  of  the  departments  of  history,  economics,  and  political 
science.  Among  the  subjects  of  these  talks  were  "  The  Geographical 
Background  of  the  War,"  "  The  British  Empire  and  What  It  Stands 
For,"  and  "  Germany  and  Her  Ambitions."  Prof.  James  W.  Garner, 
of  the  department  of  political  science  at  the  University  of  Illinois, 
also  delivered  a  number  of  lectures  before  American  soldiers  in 
France.  Professors  of  history  wrote  bulletins  for  the  use  of  Liberty 
loan  workers,  while  they  themselves  often  spoke  in  behalf  of  the 
various  war  drives.  They  rendered  particularly  valuable  service 
by  contributing  articles  on  war  subjects  to  newspapers,  as  well  as  cer- 
tain of  the  more  popular  magazines.  The  University  of  Chicago 
committee  on  publicity  arranged  at  an  early  date  for  the  publication 
of  articles  in  the  leading  Chicago  dailies,  while  it  was  arranged 
that  some  of  this  material  should  be  handled  by  news  syndicates.  In 
this  connection  it  should  be  stated  that  from  April  to  October,  1918, 
the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  in  Italy  was  di- 
rected by  Prof.  Charles  E.  Merriam,  of  the  department  of  political 
science  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  methods  of  educating  the  public  with  ref- 
erence to  war  aims  was  through  the  adaptation  of  courses  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  colleges,  and  universities,  as  well  as  by  the  organization 
of  new  courses.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  principal  burden 
of  this  task  fell  upon  the  teachers  of  history.  An  enumeration  of 
even  a  relatively  small  number  of  such  courses  is  impossible.  There 
were  general  courses  dealing  with  the  origin  and  backgrounds  of  the 
war  while  there  were  others  dealing  with  more  specific  aspects  of  the 
struggle,  which  were  given  by  specialists  in  certain  phases  of  Euro- 
pean history.  The  University  of  Chicago,  for  example,  offered  a 
course  on  "  The  Background  of  the  Great  War  "  which  is  fairly  typi- 
cal.   Political,  social,  and  economic  conditions  among  the  European 

24  For  an  account  of  war  lectures  delivered  under  the  auspices  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  together  with  lists  of  lectures  and  subjects,  see  University  Record,  January, 
April,  and  October,  1918,  pp.  54,  105,  and  239. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  217 

belligerents  were  considered,  while  special  emphasis  was  placed  upon 
the  traditional  attitude  of  the  United  States  toward  European  affairs, 
together  with  the  causes  and  influences  leading  up  to  our  participa- 
tion in  the  war.  Departments  of  political  science  offered  new  courses 
in  diplomacy  and  foreign  relations  which  were  adapted  to  current 
war  issues  and  were  essentially  historical  in  character.  Mention  must 
not  be  omitted  of  the  war  issues  course,  which  was  given  at  various 
institutions  in  connection  with  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps. 
The  extremely  large  enrollment  in  this  course  often  taxed  to  the 
utmost  the  resources  of  the  departments  of  history,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  obtain  assistance  from  other  departments.  At  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  a  committee  on  the  war  issues  course  was  estab- 
lished, which  became  in  large  measure  responsible  for  the  general 
task  of  disseminating  information  concerning  the  war  and  related 
subjects.  Prof.  Evarts  B.  Greene,  head  of  the  department  of  history 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  as  chairman  of  the  National  Board  for 
Historical  Service,  cooperated  with  the  Committee  on  Education  and 
Special  Training  of  the  War  Department  in  planning  this  course. 

There  were  two  national  war  agencies,  the  function  of  which  was  to 
assist  in  the  formation  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion — the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information  and  the  National  Board  for  Historical 
Service.  It  was  also  the  purpose  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Infor- 
mation to  follow  closely  and  keep  itself  informed  concerning  the  state 
of  public  opinion  throughout  the  country.  The  attitude  of  the  large 
German-speaking  element  of  the  population  was  of  special  concern, 
particularly  in  the  case  of  a  State  like  Illinois,  where  there  is  a  rela- 
tively large  German  population.  For  a  period  of  several  months 
Prof.  Laurence  M.  Larson,  of  the  department  of  history  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  read  some  20  daily  and  weekly  German- American 
newspapers  published  in  the  State,  summarizing  and  reporting  upon 
their  contents  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Information.  One  of  the 
most  valuable  publications  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information 
was  the  War  Cyclopedia,  many  of  the  articles  in  which  were  contrib- 
uted by  members  of  the  departments  of  history  and  political  science 
of  the  universities  of  the  State.  At  the  request  of  the  committee, 
Prof.  W.  S.  Robertson,  of  the  department  of  history  of  the  University 
of  Illinois,  who  was  in  South  America  during  a  part  of  the  war,  made 
certain  investigations  concerning  Latin  America  and  the  war  and  the 
relations  between  Latin  American  Republics  and  the  United  States. 

The  second  agency  which  assisted  in  the  formation  of  public 
opinion  was  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service.  Prof.  Evarts 
B.  Greene,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  was  chairman  of  the  board 
from  November,  1917,  to  September,  1918,  and  in  this  capacity  co- 
operated with  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  the  Committee 
on  Education  and  Special  Training  of  the  War  Department,  the  vari- 


218  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

ous  allied  commissions,  and  organizations  of  similar  character.  On 
behalf  of  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,  Prof.  Greene 
organized  certain  historical  investigations  for  the  use  of  the  House 
"  Inquiry."  Prof.  William  E.  Dodd,  of  the  department  of  history  of 
the  University  of  Chicago,  was  also  a  member  of  the  board. 

During  the  war  it  came  to  be  recognized  that  it  was  of  the  first 
importance  that  there  should  be  the  most  complete  accord  between 
the  United  States  and  the  associated  powers.  Such  an  accord  could 
only  be  based  upon  a  mutual  understanding  between  the  nations  at 
war  with  Germany  of  their  ideals  and  purposes.  The  historian,  by 
reason  of  his  cosmopolitan  outlook  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
ideals  and  institutions  of  nations  other  than  his  own,  was  especially 
qualified  to  assist  in  bringing  about  such  an  understanding.  It  was 
the  privilege  of  Prof.  A.  C.  McLaughlin,  head  of  the  department 
of  history  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  to  be  instrumental  in 
furthering  friendly  and  cordial  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain.  Prof.  McLaughlin  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Eng- 
land by  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,  where  he  lectured 
extensively  in  the  spring  of  1918.  The  intimate  knowledge  of  condi- 
tions in  England  acquired  during  his  visit  abroad  enabled  him,  upon 
his  return  to  tjie  United  States,  to  inform  the  public  through  the 
medium  of  lectures  and  published  articles  of  the  ideals  for  which  the 
two  nations  had  been  jointly  striving  during  the  war.  One  tangible 
result  of  Prof.  McLaughlin's  visit  was  the  publication  after  his 
return  to  the  United  States  of  a  volume  entitled  "Britain  and 
America,"  New  York  and  London,  1919. 

Because  of  skill  in  research  and  wide  knowledge  of  world  affairs, 
acquired  in  many  instances  through  years  of  study,  the  services  of 
the  historian  were  invaluable  in  the  gathering  of  data  upon  the  basis 
of  which  the  peace  settlement  was  formulated.  In  1917  Col.  Edward 
M.  House  instituted  his  "  Inquiry  into  the  terms  of  peace "  and 
gathered  about  him  a  group  of  experts  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
the  necessary  information.  Prof.  Albert  Howe  Lybyer,  of  the  de- 
partment of  history  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  an  authority  on 
the  Balkans  and  Near  East,  joined  the  House  "Inquiry"  in  August, 
1918.  Prof.  Laurence  M.  Larson  carried  on  certain  investigations 
relating  to  Slesvig,  Finland,  Spitzbergen,  and  other  problems  of 
Scandinavian  interest  which  were  expected  to  arise  at  the  peace 
conference. 

The  American  Commission  to  Negotiate  Peace  was  organized 
shortly  after  the  armistice  and  attached  thereto  were  numerous  ex- 
perts, from  whose  number  were  selected  the  American  members  of 
the  committees,  commissions,  and  councils  that  were  created  by  the 
peace  conference.  Prof.  Lybyer,  who  had  already  been  associated 
with  the  House  "  Inquiry,"  was  also  attached  to  the  Commission  to 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  219 

Negotiate  Peace,  serving  as  assistant  in  the  Balkan  division  of  ex- 
perts from  December,  1918,  to  April  1,  1919.  On  the  latter  date 
he  became  general  technical  advisor  to  the  King-Crane  Commission 
on  Mandates  in  Turkey,  and  visited  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Constan- 
tinople. Prof.  Pitman  B.  Potter,  at  present  of  the  University  of 
Illinois,  prepared  for  the  commission  two  studies,  entitled  "  Peace 
Proposals,  December  12,  1916,  to  November  11,  1918,"  and  "Au- 
tonomy and  Federation  within  Empire." 

After  the  armistice  the  University  of  Illinois  began  the  publica- 
tion of  a  series  of  pamphlets  on  problems  involved  in  the  inter- 
national settlement,  in  which  work  the  department  of  history  took 
the  lead. 

In  the  foregoing  discussion  attention  has  been  directed  largely  to 
the  services  rendered  by  professional  historians  and  other  persons 
in  related  departments  of  academic  life.  Their  work  is  of  unusual 
interest  in  a  survey  of  this  character  because  of  the  special  quali- 
fications which  they  possessed  for  the  work  described,  by  reason  of 
their  ability  to  ascertain  facts  derived  from  long  practice  in  re- 
search ;  their  ability  to  interpret  facts,  acquired  through  the  process 
of  sifting  and  analyzing  historical  data;  and  by  reason  of  the  fund 
of  historical  information  already  at  their  disposal,  accumulated 
through  years  of  study.  There  were  numberless  other  persons  and 
agencies,  in  Illinois  as  elsewhere,  which  did  extremely  valuable 
work  along  similar  lines,  but  space  does  not  permit  a  discussion  of 
their  activities. 

Having  considered  briefly  the  service  which  historical  training 
contributed  to  the  winning  of  the  war,  something  should  be  said 
concerning  the  agencies  in  Illinois  which  have  been  active  in  preserv- 
ing a  record  of  the  events  of  the  war  and  in  collecting  and  preserv- 
ing the  materials  which  must  be  used  by  future  historians.  First  of 
all  wil]  be  considered  historical  studies  which  have  already  appeared 
or  the  publication  of  which  is  planned  in  the  near  future;  and, 
secondly,  progress  made  in  the  collection  and  preservation  of  war 
records  in  Illinois. 

Few  general  historical  studies  relating  to  the  State  in  the  war 
have  appeared  as  yet,  owing  to  the  comparately  short  period  of 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  In  Bogart 
and  Mathews,  The  Modern  Commonwealth,  1893-1918  (Vol.  V,  Cen- 
tennial History  of  Illinois)  is  a  chapter  by  Prof.  Arthur  C.  Cole, 
entitled  "  Illinois  and  the  Great  War."  Though  of  necessity  very 
brief,  this  chapter  constitutes  by  far  the  best  summary  of  the  history 
of  Illinois  in  the  war  which  has  appeared.  Several  projects  for 
publication  are  known  to  be  underway.  An  official  history  of  the 
State's  participation  in  the  war  is  planned,  to  consist  of  several  vol- 
umes, some  of  which  will  be  devoted  to  a  narrative  of  events,  while 


220  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

others  will  include  selected  documentary  material.  The  publication 
of  this  history  may  not  be  expected  for  some  two  or  three  years,  but 
in  the  meantime  the  necessary  material  is  being  collected.  A  work 
entitled  "  Illinois  in  the  World  War,"  a  commercial  project  which 
has  been  undertaken  by  the  State  Publication  Society,  is  expected  to 
appear  shortly.  It  will  consist  for  the  most  part  of  accounts  of 
various  State  war  activities  written  by  the  persons  who  directed 
them.  Thus  it  will  in  reality  constitute  a  source,  or  a  collection  of 
sources,  rather  than  a  real  history  in  the  form  of  a  connected 
narrative. 

Certain  studies  of  the  war  in  its  more  general  aspects  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time  by  Illinois  writers.  A  volume  by  Prof. 
William  E.  Dood,  entitled  "  Woodrow  Wilson  and  His  Work,"  has 
been  published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.  Prof.  James  W.  Garner 
has  written  a  treatise  on  "  International  Law  and  the  World  War  "  in 
two  volumes,  which  at  the  time  of  writing  this  article  was  in  the  press 
of  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.  This  study,  while  it  belongs  properly 
within  the  field  of  political  science,  will  necessarily  contain  a  large 
amount  of  historical  material.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Prof.  John 
A.  Fairlie's  "  British  War  Administration,"  which  has  appeared  as  a 
volume  of  the  Preliminary  Economic  Studies  of  the  War,  published  | 
by  the  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace. 

Several  military  histories  have  been  published,  relating  to  units  I 
made  up  in  whole  or  for  the  most  part  of  Illinois  troops.  There 
is  now  being  edited  for  the  press  a  history  of  the  Thirty-third 
Division,  by  Col.  Frederic  L.  Huidekoper,  division  adjutant.  Be- 
sides a  narrative  account  of  the  organization  of  the  division,  which 
was  composed  of  Illinois  National  Guard  troops  and  its  operations 
in  France,  there  will  be  a  volume  of  appendixes  containing  official 
orders,  memoranda,  and  other  documentary  material.  There  will 
also  be  a  volume  of  official  operation  maps.  This  history,  which 
is  being  published  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  is  a  scholarly  work 
in  every  sense  of  the  term,  and  will  not  only  be  of  interest  to  the 
general  reader,  but  of  value  to  the  student  of  military  science.  An 
account  of  one  of  the  units  of  the  Thirty-Third  Division  has  already 
been  published  in  a  work  entitled  "  The  131st  U.  S.  Infantry 
(1st  Inf.,  111..  N.  G.)  in  the  World  War."  The  general  narrative  is 
by  Col.  Joseph  B.  Sanborn,  commanding  the  regiment,  while  the 
conduct  of  operations  is  described  by  Capt.  George  N.  Malstrom. 
A  splendid  pictorial  record  of  the  Thirty-third  Division  is  con- 
tainec  m  a  volume  entitled  "  Thirty-third  Division  Across  No-Man's 
Land,"  Kankakee,  1919.  A  history  of  the  Eighty-sixth  Division, 
which  was  formed  at  Camp  Grant  and  contained  a  large  number  of 
Illinois  men,  has  been  compiled  by  members  of  the  Eighty-sixth 
Division  Association  and  is  now  in  the  press  of  the  State  Publication 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  221 

Society.  A  very  comprehensive  and  semiofficial  narrative  is  con- 
tained in  the  volume  entitled  "  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training  Station, 
A  History,"  by  Francis  Buzzell,  Boston,  1919.  The  author  was  his- 
torian of  the  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  naval  districts. 

Of  great  interest,  though  of  rather  unequal  value,  are  the  "  official  " 
histories  and  final  reports  of  the  various  war  activities  carried  on 
within  the  State.  Noteworthy  among  these  publications  is  the  "  Final 
Report  of  the  State  Council  of  Defense  of  Illinois."  Besides  giving  a 
general  description  of  the  work  of  the  council,  the  report  summarizes 
the  activities  and  achievements  of  the  various  subcommittees,  while 
there  is  an  appendix  which  contains  a  large  amount  of  exceedingly 
useful  material  in  the  form  of  texts  of  statutes,  resolutions,  reports, 
etc.  Supplementing  this  report  is  the  "  Final  Report  of  the  Woman's 
Committee  of  the  State  Council  of  Defense  of  Illinois  and  the 
Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  Illinois  Di- 
vision," a  volume  of  316  pages.  "  The  Web,"  by  Emerson  Hough, 
of  Chicago,  is  the  story  of  the  American  Protective  League.  Besides 
a  general  description  of  the  origin  and  work  of  the  league,  the  volume 
includes  a  more  detailed  account  of  its  activities  in  the  larger  cities, 
including  Chicago.  Mr.  George  R.  Jones,  State  chairman  of  the 
Four-Minute  Men,  has  published  a  useful  little  volume  entitled 
"  History  of  the  Four-Minute  Men  of  Chicago."  Many  of  the  welfare 
organizations  are  planning  to  preserve  a  record  of  their  activities  in 
permanent  form. 

A  history  of  the  war  activities  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation throughout  the  central  department,  which  includes  Illinois, 
is  being  compiled  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  War  Work 
Council. 

The  military  edition  of  the  Columbian  and  Western  Catholic, 
October  IT,  1919,  contains  a  series  of  articles  describing  with  con- 
siderable fullness  the  work  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus  in  Illinois. 
The  various  establishments  of  the  War  Camp  Community  Service  in 
Illinois  have  compiled  separate  reports  describing  their  work.  Of 
special  interest  are  the  reports  covering  the  work  of  the  organization 
in  Chicago  and  Rockford. 

No  official  history  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Illinois  has  been  prepared, 
nor  has  any  general  report  of  its  work  been  compiled  covering  the 
central  division,  of  which  Illinois  is  a  part.  At  the  request  of  the 
director  of  the  central  division,  however,  nearly  all  of  the  county 
chapters  have  prepared  brief  histories  of  their  war  activities.  These 
histories,  as  a  rule,  vary  in  length  from  1,000  to  5,000  words,  and  a  few 
have  been  published. 

A  number  of  educational  institutions  have  undertaken  to  preserve 
a  record  of  their  war  service.  Schools,  colleges,  and  universities  have 
included  much  data  of  this  sort  in  their  catalogues,  bulletins,  annuals, 


222  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

alumni  publications,  etc.  At  Northwestern  University  a  history  of 
the  various  war  activities  connected  with  the  institution  is  in  manu- 
script and  will  soon  be  ready  for  the  press.  The  University  of 
Illinois  has  designated  a  committee,  including  two  members  of  the 
department  of  history,  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  a  record  of  the 
university  in  the  war.  The  collection  of  material  has  been  going 
forward  for  several  weeks,  and  the  committee  is  formulating  plans 
for  publication.  A  similar  committee  has  been  appointed  at  the 
University  of  Chicago.  The  University  Record,  October,  1917-Janu- 
ary,  1919,  inclusive,  contains  a  series  of  articles  edited  by  Dr. 
David  A.  Robertson,  which  constitute  a  very  good  general  summary 
of  the  war  service  of  the  institution.  At  the  Western  Illinois  State 
Normal  School  a  manuscript  is  ready  for  the  press  which  includes 
the  names  of  students  and  alumni  of  the  institution  who  were  in 
uniform,  together  with  a  brief  record  of  each  man's  service.  The 
projected  volume  will  also  include  a  summary  of  the  contributions 
of  the  school  to  civilian  war  activities. 

The  libraries  of  the  State  rendered  inestimable  service  by  acting  as 
distributing  centers  for  information  of  all  sorts  relating  to  the  war. 
Mr.  P.  L.  Windsor,  of  the  University  of  Illinois  library,  has  under- 
taken a  State- wide  survey  of  this  phase  of  the  work  of  the  libraries, 
the  result  of  which  it  is  hoped  to  publish  at  some  future  date. 

The  county  war  history  is  a  popular  form  of  expression  of  inter- 
est in  local  war  achievements,  and  in  a  large  number  of  the  102 
counties  of  Illinois  such  projects  are  underway.  In  many  instances 
these  histories  are  in  the  nature  of  commercial  enterprises,  while 
in  other  counties  the  work  has  been  undertaken  by  public-spirited 
citizens  of  the  locality  with  no  idea  of  personal  profit.  The  com- 
mercial publication  as  a  general  rule  is  characterized  by  expensive 
printing  and  ornate  binding,  though  the  content  is  usually  less  valu- 
able than  in  the  case  of  the  second  class  of  county  histories  men- 
tioned above.  Most  of  these  "histories"  conform  pretty  closely  to 
a  standard  type.  They  include  the  names  and  sometimes  fairly  com- 
plete service  records  of  persons  who  were  in  the  Army,  Navy,  and 
Marine  Corps.  There  is  usually  a  brief  sketch  of  each  of  the  va- 
rious civilian  war  agencies  within  the  county.  In  these  sketches  the 
names  of  personnel  and  statistics  of  work  accomplished,  funds  raised, 
etc.,  usually  predominate. 

The  preservation  of  the  original  records  relating  to  Illinois  in  the 
war  is  perhaps  of  more  immediate  importance  than  the  writing  of 
history,  for  it  is  upon  material  of  this  sort  that  the  future  historian 
must  depend.  The  war  records  section  of  the  Illinois  State  His- 
torical Library  is  the  agency  which  is  organizing  the  work  through- 
out the  State.  A  war  history  committee  was  appointed  under  the 
State  council  of  defense  and  a  movement  initiated  looking  to  the 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  223 

preservation  by  the  various  counties  of  the  State  of  original  war 
records.  The  organization  of  the  State  council  of  defense  was  dis- 
banded soon  after  the  armistice,  however,  the  result  being  that  very 
little  was  accomplished.  In  July,  1919,  the  general  assembly  appro- 
priated the  sum  of  $20,000  for  the  following  biennium,  to  be  used  by 
the  Illinois  State  Historical  Library  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
and  preserving  data  relating  to  the  State  in  the  war.  A  war  records 
section  was  organized,  responsible  to  the  library  board  of  trustees,  a 
secretary  was  appointed,  and  the  gathering  of  material  was  com- 
menced. 

The  work  of  the  war  records  section  consists  of  two  separate, 
though  closely  related,  phases  (1)  the  gathering  and  preserving  of 
material  relating  to  the  State  as  a  whole,  and  (2)  the  organization  of 
local  war  history  committees,  the  duty  of  which  is  to  perform  a  simi- 
lar service  for  the  counties  in  which  they  are  located.  General 
records  and  data  pertaining  to  the  participation  of  Illinois  in  the 
war  are  being  assembled  at  Springfield,  where  they  will  constitute  a 
permanent  war  records  collection,  which  will  be  housed  ultimately 
in  the  Centennial  Building  now  being  erected  adjacent  to  the  State 
capital.  A  detailed  description  of  this  material  will  be  unnecessary 
as  it  resembles  very  closely  that  which  is  being  gathered  in  other 
States.  Particular  emphasis  is  being  placed  upon  original  records, 
in  the  form  of  correspondence,  minutes  of  proceedings,  memoranda, 
reports,  etc.,  of  State  war  activities.  The  headquarters  of  these 
State  agencies  have  been  carefully  canvassed,  and  in  some  instances 
the  war  records  section  has  been  made  the  depository  of  a  part  or 
all  of  their  working  files  covering  the  period  of  the  war.  Copies 
of  county  Red  Cross  chapter  histories  are  being  obtained  for  the 
war  records  collection  while  reports  from  local  food  and  fuel 
administrators,  as  well  as  the  chairmen  of  other  county  war  activi- 
ties, are  being  gathered.  Ephemeral  material  in  the  form  of 
pamphlets,  circulars,  bulletins,  and  publicity  matter  of  all  sorts  is 
being  collected.  The  section  also  has  a  growing  collection  of  posters 
and  photographs.  A  survey  of  Illinois  manufactures  during  the 
war  has  been  undertaken.  A  memorandum  has  been  sent  to  several 
hundred  concerns  in  the  State,  requesting  data  concerning  their  com- 
mercial and  industrial  problems  during  the  war,  and  a  large  number 
of  valuable  reports  have  been  received.  The  collection  of  soldiers' 
letters  and  diaries  will  also  be  emphasized. 

Immediately  upon  its  establishment  the  war  records  section  began 
the  task  of  organizing  the  various  counties  of  the  State  to  insure  the 
preservation  of  local  material.  War  records  committees  were  organ- 
ized in  certain  counties,  while  elsewhere  other  agencies,  already  in 
existence,  were  persuaded  to  undertake  the  task.  In  this  connection 
the  libraries  of  the  State,  particularly  those  located  at  the  various 


224  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

county  seats,  have  been  very  useful.  The  sort  of  material  which  the 
counties  are  being  asked  to  collect  is  similar  in  character  to  that 
which  is  being  gathered  by  the  State,  save  for  its  more  local  in- 
terest and  value.  Special  effort  is  being  made  to  insure  the  preser- 
vation of  the  records  of  local  committees  which  comprised  the  com- 
munity war  administrative  machinery.  In  some  counties  the  ma- 
terial gathered  is  being  placed  in  the  courthouse,  while  in  others  it 
is  being  placed  in  the  library  at  the  county  seat  for  safe  keeping 
Some  county  committees  have  published  war  histories,  while  others 
are  planning  to  do  so.  As  has  been  stated  it  is  planned  ultimately  to 
publish  an  official  history  of  Illinois  in  the  war ;  and  in  the  collection 
of  material,  both  State  and  local,  this  end  is  being  kept  constantly 
in  view. 

The  libraries  of  the  State,  acting  independently,  and  upon  their 
own  initiative,  have  done  extremely  valuable  work  in  the  collection 
of  general  material  relating  to  the  war.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  libraries  of  our  educational  institutions,  which  in  planning  their 
collections  have  kept  in  mind  the  needs  of  future  research  students. 
In  many  instances  their  activities  have  extended  to  the  gathering  of 
European  material,  as  well  as  that  pertaining  to  the  United  States. 
The  University  Record,  October,  1918,  page  237,  contains  a  good  de- 
scription of  the  activity  of  the  University  of  Chicago  library  in  col-^ 
lecting  historical  material. 

INDIANA. 

By  John  W.  Oliver,  Director  War  History  Records,  Indiana  Historical 

Commission. 

I 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  in  Indiana  to  acquaint  the  people  at 
large  with  the  many  issues  involved  in  the  World  War  was  the  publica-. 
tion  of  a  war-service  Textbook.  Immediately  following  the  organi- 
zation of  the  State  council  of  defense  in  May,  1917,  the  members 
realized  the  need  of  carrying  home  to  every  family  in  Indiana  a 
thorough  understanding  of  the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  great 
issues  at  stake.  The  best  medium  through  which  this  information 
could  be  diffused  was  a  textbook — one  that  could  be  read  and  under- 
stood by  school  children  as  well  as  adults.  Acting  upon  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  State  council  of  defense,  Gov.  James  P.  Goodrich 
authorized  the  publication  of  such  a  volume.  The  State  board  of 
education  was  requested  to  edit  and  publish  the  volume,  and  in 
January,  1918,  it  was  ready  for  distribution. 

The  volume,  numbering  151  pages,  contains  two  of  President 
Wilson's  messages — the  one  read  to  Congress  on  April  2,  1917,  and 
the  message  read  at  the  opening  of  Congress,  December  3,  1917; 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WORLD   WAR. 


225 


addresses  by  Gov.  James  P.  Goodrich,  and  Ex-Gov.  Samuel  M. 
Ralston;  a  discussion  of  State  councils  of  defense  by  George  Ade; 
an  article  on  the  meaning  of  war  by  Louis  Howland;  and  several 
other  articles  devoted  to  some  phase  of  the  World  War.  Numerous 
war  poems  are  also  included  in  the  volume.  Several  thousand  copies 
of  this  volume  were  distributed  throughout  the  State,  and  it  became  a 
great  factor  in  bringing  home  to  the  people  the  real  meaning  of  war. 

In  an  effort  to  enlighten  the  public  regarding  the  many  issues  of 
the  war,  a  great  work  was  done  both  by  individuals  and  by  organi- 
zations. A  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Soul  of  the  German  Empire," 
published  in  1915  by  William  M.  Cochran,  Indianapolis,  was  one 
of  the  first  to  appear  calling  attention  to  the  character  of  the  na- 
tion that  was  later  to  become  our  enemy.  Two  other  pamphlets 
written  by  an  Indiana  man,  that  were  circulated  throughout  the 
country  before  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  were  "  Germans  in 
America  "  and  "America's  Debt  to  England,"  by  Lucius  B.  Swift,  In- 
dianapolis, 1916.  This  latter  paper  was  read  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Historical  Association  at  Cincinnati,  1916. 
The  Quarterly  Bulletin,  issued  by  the  Indiana  State  Library,  June, 
1917  (vol.  XII,  No.  2),  was  devoted  entirely  to  a  bibliography  on 
war  publications.  A  selected  list  of  books  dealing  with  war  finance, 
military  science,  education  and  the  war,  universal  military  service, 
relief  work  in  the  war,  food  supply,  women  and  the  war,  and  other 
kindred  subjects,  was  distributed  throughout  the  State  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1917.  "War  Readings,  a  bibliographical  reference  to  war 
items  from  current  literature,  1917,"  by  Katherine  Merrill  Graydon, 
professor  of  English  in  Butler  College,  Indianapolis,  furnished  a 
most  valuable  guide  for  the  war  material  in  magazines  and  periodi- 
cals. 

The  schools,  colleges,  and  universities  of  Indiana  carried  on  a 
systematic  war-educational  campaign  by  means  of  lectures,  war 
courses,  and  assigned  readings  in  order  to  reach  the  thousands  of 
students  enrolled  in  these  institutions.  Indiana  University  led  the 
way  by  offering  a  special  course  on  the  World  War  and  its  causes 
during  the  summer  school  for  1917.  The  course  was  also  offered 
during  the  regular  sessions  of  1917-18,  and  again  during  the  sum- 
mer term  of  1918.  In  the  fall  term  of  1918,  a  course  on  war  aims 
was  offered  for  the  students  enrolled  in  the  Students'  Army  Train- 
ing Corps.  Several  articles  relating  to  the  war  were  written  by 
different  members  of  the  faculty,  and  were  printed  in  each  issue 
of  the  Alumni  Quarterly.  The  chief  contributors  were  Profs.  James 
A.  Woodburn,  Samuel  B.  Harding,  A.  L.  Kohlmeier,  and  James 

C.  McDonald. 

At  Depauw  University,  Greencastle,  a  special  series  of  lectures 
relating  to  the  World  War  was  provided  for  by  the  Mendenhall 
25066°— 23 16 


226  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Foundation.  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  gave  six  lectures ;  Dr.  John  Kelman, 
of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  gave  several;  and  President  W.  H.  P. 
Faunce,  of  Brown  University,  gave  several  addresses  on  the  war. 
All  of  these  have  since  been  published  by  the  Abingdon  Press,  of  New 
York  City.  In  addition  to  this  special  series  of  lectures  a  course  on 
the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  "  war  aims  course  "  were  given  by  the 
department  of  history.  Prof.  W.  W.  Sweet,  head  of  the  history 
department,  published  a  series  of  brief  articles  relating  to  the  war  in 
the  Indianapolis  News. 

Special  courses  relating  to  the  World  War  were  also  given  by 
Purdue  University;  University  of  Notre  Dame;  the  two  Indiana 
State  Normal  Schools,  Terre  Haute  and  Muncie;  Butler  College, 
Indianapolis;  Earlham  College,  Richmond;  Wabash  College,  Craw- 
fordsville;  Hanover  College,  Hanover;  Tri-State  College,  Angola; 
Franklin  College,  Franklin;  Vincennes  University,  Vincennes;  Cen- 
tral Normal  College,  Danville;  and  Indiana  Central  University,  In- 
dianapolis. In  addition  to  the  special  courses  on  the  war,  given  , 
in  each  case  by  the  department  of  history,  the  faculty  members  in 
each  institution  gave  a  series  of  lectures  during  the  convocation 
periods,  and  on  other  special  occasions.  Several  articles  relating  to 
war  subjects  were  contributed  by  the  faculty  members  to  the  local 
school  papers  and  magazines.  In  each  of  the  institutions  mentioned 
the  libraries  arranged  a  special  collection  of  ready  reference  books, 
pamphlets,  and  periodicals,  containing  war  material,  which  the  stu- 
dents  were  urged  to  read.  Several  of  the  college  libraries  circulated  . 
their  collection  of  war  material  and  assisted  local  clubs  and  societies  : 
in  making  a  study  of  the  war. 

The  most  important  contribution  made  by  the  historical  profession  j 
in  Indiana  during  the  session  of  the  Peace  Conference  was  a  series 
of  articles  on  the  League  of  Nations,  prepared  by  Prof.  James  A. 
Woodburn,  of  Indiana  University,  and  published  in  the  Indianapolis 
Star  during  the  month  of  April,  1919. 

Special  mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  war  services  rendered 
by  another  Indiana  historian,  Prof.  F.  S.  Bogardus,  of  the  Terre 
Haute  Normal  School.  He  was  one  of  the  first  men  called  into  service 
by  the  War  Department,  early  in  1918,  to  formulate  the  war  issues 
course  used  by  all  colleges  and  universities  that  enrolled  men  for 
vocational  and  technical  training.  The  same  course  was  later  used 
by  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  institutions.  Prof.  Bogardus 
had  charge  of  the  central  district,  covering  13  States  in  all,  extending 
from  West  Virginia  to  Colorado. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  no  steps  were  taken  on  the  part  of 
the  State  looking  toward  the  publication  of  any  special  histories  on 
war  organizations  or  particular  units. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  227 

With  respect  to  the  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records,  the 
Indiana  State  Library  took  the  lead  in  April,  1917,  in  urging  upon 
all  local  libraries  and  historical  societies  the  importance  of  selecting 
and  preserving  all  material  relating  to  the  war  activities  in  Indiana. 
Special  attention  was  called  to  the  value  of  preserving  complete  files 
of  all  local  newspapers.  Early  in  1918  a  bulletin  was  issued  by  the 
Indiana  State  Library  calling  upon  the  different  counties  to  take 
steps  toward  building  up  a  collection  of  local  war  records.  A  few 
months  later  a  second  bulletin,  issued  jointly  by  the  State  library 
and  State  council  of  defense,  was  sent  to  all  county  councils  of  de- 
fense, urging  them  to  prepare  a  final  report  covering  the  work  of 
their  organizations. 

Immediately  following  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  Gov.  Good- 
rich called  together  the  members  of  the  Indiana  Historical  Commis- 
sion and  suggested  that  this  organization  take  steps  at  once  to  collect 
and  compile  the  official  war  history  of  the  State.  The  expenses  in- 
curred for  the  work  were  paid  out  of  the  governor's  emergency  con- 
tingent fund  until  the  legislature  convened,  when  an  appropriation 
of  $20,000  was  voted  for  this  special  work.  The  historical  commis- 
sion opened  headquarters  in  the  statehouse,  and  proceeded  at  once  to 
organize  local  war-history  committees  in  each  county  in  the  State. 
Two  bulletins  were  issued  setting  forth  an  outline  of  the  work  that 
was  to  be  covered  in  building  up  a  State  war-history  collection. 

The  counties  were  urged  to  make  their  own  local  collections  of 
records  complete  in  every  detail,  and  to  include  a  report  covering 
every  organization  that  had  helped  toward  the  winning  of  the  war. 
Also  the  counties  have  been  urged  to  prepare  their  histories  for  pub- 
lication at  the  earliest  possible  date.  At  this  writing  (Apr.  1,  1920) 
eight  counties  have  published  their  war  histories,  and  more  than  half 
of  the  counties  in  the  State  have  their  material  assembled. 

The  scope  of  the  work  carried  on  by  the  historical  commission 
covers  every  organization  in  the  State  that  engaged  in  war  work. 
Reports  of  the  State  council  of  defense,  the  history  of  the  five  Lib- 
erty loan  drives,  the  fuel  and  food  administrations,  the  numerous 
war-relief  organizations,  and  all  other  phases  of  war  work  are  to  be 
included  in  the  collection  of  war  records. 

Three  of  the  five  volumes  which  the  historical  commission  ex- 
pects to  publish  are  now  under  way,  and  it  is  expected  that  they  will 
be  in  the  press  within  the  next  few  months.  The  first  of  these  will 
be  the  gold  star  memorial  volume.  It  will  include  the  name  and  a 
brief  biographical  sketch  of  every  man  in  Indiana  who  lost  his  life 
in  the  World  War;  also  the  pictures  of  as  many  men  as  can  be  ob- 
tained will  be  included  in  this  volume.  The  second  volume  will  be 
given  over  to  the  history  of  the  State  council  of  defense  and  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  State  conscription  board.    The  third  volume  will  con- 


228  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

tain  the  history  of  the  five  Liberty  loan  drives  and  the  war  savings 
and  war  thrift  stamp  campaigns.  Further  publications  will  have  to 
be  deferred  until  an  additional  appropriation  is  made. 

IOWA. 

This  report  was  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  the  State  Historical  Society. 

Historical  activities  in  the  State  of  Iowa  during  the  years  1917, 
1918,  and  1919,  undertaken  in  consequence  of  the  World  War,  were 
largely  confined  to  the  schools,  including  the  higher  State  and 
private  educational  institutions,  and  to  certain  State  institutions 
which  were  particularly  interested  in  the  dissemination  of  historical 
knowledge  regarding  the  war  or  in  the  preservation  of  historical 
materials. 

Along  the  lines  of  historical  research  and  publication  of  war  ma- 
terial, the  State  University  of  Iowa  issued  in  January,  1919,  a  Syl- 
labus on  the  Issues  of  the  War,  prepared  by  the  collaboration  of 
members  of  the  university  staff  in  connection  with  the  war  issues 
course  for  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  Through  its  ex- 
tension division  the  university  also  issued  various  bulletins  bearing 
upon  historical  aspects  of  the  war.  Among  these  may  be  named 
one  on  "  German  Submarine  Warfare  Against  the  United  States, 
1915-1917,"  by  Louis  Pelzer,  and  one  on  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine  and 
the  War,"  by  Harry  G.  Plum.  Bulletin  No.  40  published  in  August, 
1918,  is  a  bibliography  of  war  materials  prepared  for  use  by  the 
Iowa  Patriotic  League  in  the  high  schools  of  Iowa.  It  is  supple- 
mented by  Bulletin  No.  48,  which  brings  the  bibliography  down  to 
May,  1919. 

The  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa  during  the  period  1917-1919 
issued  24  numbers  in  a  series  of  booklets  entitled  "  Iowa  and  War." 
Although  many  of  these  numbers  dealt  with  earlier  wars  in  which 
Iowa  had  a  part,  the  following  titles  will  indicate  the  scope  of  the 
material  relating  to  the  W^orld  War :  "  Iowa  War  Proclamation,"  "An 
Iowa  Flag,"  "  The  First  Three  Liberty  Loans  in  Iowa,"  "  Social 
Work  at  Fort  Dodge,"  "  Organized  Speaking  in  Iowa  During  the 
War,"  "  The  History  of  Iowa's  Part  in  the  World  War,"  "A  Tenta- 
tive Outline  for  a  County  War  History,"  "A  Tentative  Outline  for  a 
State  War  History,"  "  The  Writing  of  War  History  in  Iowa." 

The  State  Historical  Society  also  published  in  1919  a  bulletin  of 
information  entitled  "  Collection  and  Preservation  of  the  Materials 
of  War  History — A  Patriotic  Service  for  Public  Libraries,  Local 
Historical  Societies,  and  Local  Historians." 

The  diffusion  of  historical  information  through  newspapers  and 
periodicals  was  considerable  in  amount,  though  not  the  result  of 
a  great  deal  of  organized  effort  from  within  the  State.    The  news* 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  229 

papers  drew  much  material  from  the  publications  of  the  National 
Committee  on  Public  Information.  A  reversal  of  this  service  is 
;ypified  in  the  contribution  to  the  Historical  Outlook  (a  publica- 
tion of  nation-wide  circulation)  of  an  historical  outline  under  the 
title  "United  States  and  the  World  War"  by  Harry  G.  Plum,  of 
the  State  University  of  Iowa. 

The  libraries  of  the  State  made  every  effort  possible  to  secure 
md  make  accessible  to  the  public  books  and  periodicals  containing 
important  historical  information.  Lectures  concerning  the  issues  of 
the  war  were  provided  by  the  higher  educational  institutions,  the 
public  schools,  and  by  numerous  other  agencies.  With  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  State  council  of  defense,  a  bureau  of  speakers  for  Iowa 
was  organized,  which  coordinated  the  public  speaking  in  the  State, 
particularly  in  connection  with  the  campaigns  for  funds  for  welfare 
organizations,  for  Liberty  loans  and  for  other  war  purposes.  The 
diffusion  of  historical  information  through  this  agency  was  very 
considerable. 

In  the  schools  and  colleges  teachers  naturally  emphasized  the 
historical  phases  of  the  World  War.  In  most  of  the  colleges  courses 
on  the  issues  of  the  war  were  given  and  had  large  enrollments.  A 
valuable  adjunct  to  the  teaching  of  history  in  the  high  schools  was 
the  work  of  the  extension  division  of  the  State  University  of  Iowa, 
|in  organizing  in  August,  1918,  the  Iowa  Patriotic  League,  which 
enrolled  high  schools  and  high-school  students  in  the  study  of  the 
great  problems  of  the  day,  especially  those  problems  brought  out  by 
the  war  and  reconstruction. 

Cooperation  with  the  State  council  of  defense  was  close  in  all 
efforts  which  had  historical  connections;  as,  for  example,  the  organi- 
zation  of  the  bureau  of  speakers  and  the  Iowa  Patriotic  League,  and 
in  the  diffusion  of  war  information  through  the  printed  word.  Co- 
operation with  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  and  with 
the  National  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  in  the 
negotiation  of  peace  was  of  a  general  nature  only. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Iowa  drew  up  and  published  in  the  Iowa  and  War  Series  tentative 
outline  plans  for  the  writing  of  histories  of  the  various  war  activi- 
ties of  the  State.  In  accordance  with  these  plans  the  society  began 
the  preparation  of  volumes  on  the  Food  Administration  in  Iowa, 
The  Red  Cross  in  Iowa,  Welfare  Campaigns  in  Iowa,  and  other  simi- 
lar subjects.  A  short  sketch  of  "  The  Fuel  Problems  in  Iowa  during 
the  World  War"  has  been  published  by  the  fuel  administrator  for 
the  State,  Mr.  Charles  Webster. 

The  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records  has  been  carried 
on  in  the  counties  through  the  county  historical  societies,  public 
libraries,  and  other  agencies,  and  for  the  State  at  large  by  three 


230  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

principal  organizations.  The  general  assembly  of  Iowa  provided  for 
the  organization  of  an  Iowa  war  roster  commission  and  granted  an 
appropriation  of  $20,000  for  the  preparation  and  publication  of  a 
roster  of  Iowa  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  in  the  recent  Mexican 
border  service  and  in  the  World  War.  The  active  part  of  this  com- 
mission is  the  adjutant  general  of  the  State,  for  whose  office  Col. 
Frank  E.  Lyman,  cooperating  with  the  War  Department,  is  now 
engaged  in  the  compilation  of  the  war  records  of  Iowa  men. 

The  historical  department  at  Des  Moines  has  been,  during  and 
since  the  war,  actively  engaged  in  gathering  information,  through 
questionnaires  and  other  means,  concerning  Iowa  soldiers.  A  large 
body  of  material  has  been  secured  and  placed  upon  cards  and  a  con- 
siderable collection  of  photographs  of  soldiers  has  been  made.  A 
special  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  data  in  regard  to  casualties 
among  troops  from  the  various  Iowa  counties. 

A  somewhat  different  system  of  collection  has  been  adopted  by  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa.  Although  efforts  have  not  been 
neglected  to  collect  material  of  a  general  nature  and  along  all  lines 
of  war  activities,  the  collection  along  individual  lines  has  been 
pushed.  For  example,  assignments  of  special  topics  for  research 
and  writing  have  been  made  in  various  fields,  and  the  individual  who 
is  to  write  upon  a  given  subject  is  given  the  task,  and  afforded  every 
aid  possible  therein,  of  collecting  the  material  bearing  upon  his  sub-  ; 
ject.  The  material  thus  gathered,  though  not  covering  so  wide  a 
field,  is  more  intelligently  selected  and  lends  itself  immediately  for 
publication  purposes.  A  considerable  body  of  war  material  has  been 
collected  in  this  way  for  use  and  for  preservation. 

The  preparation  of  histories  of  Iowa's  part  in  the  war  has  already  ; 
made  considerable  headway,  although  as  yet  comparatively  little  has 
been  published.  In  a  number  of  the  counties  of  the  State  "honor 
rolls  "  have  been  published.  These  are,  for  the  most  part,  collections  i 
of  photographs  of  men  in  the  service  from  the  county,  together  with 
a  brief  statement  of  each  man's  service  record.  These  is  usually 
little  or  no  other  content,  the  purpose  of  the  publication  being 
commercial  rather  than  historical.  A  few  publications  are  appear- 
ing in  which  reading  matter  predominates,  and  it  is  expected  that 
the  number  will  steadily  increase.  In  many  counties  histories  of  a 
more  promising  character  are  being  prepared.  A  county  historical 
society  has  been  organized  in  one  county  with  this  purpose  in  view, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  existing  county  historical  societies  will  tak^ 
an  active  part  in  seeing  that  the  history  of  the  part  taken  by  the 
county  is  written  with  regard  to  future  historical  value  rather  than 
present  financial  value.  A  history  of  the  Eighty-eighth  Division, 
recently  published,  is  typical  of  the  attempt  to  record  the  history 
of  combat  organizations  recruited  in  whole  or  in  part  from  the  State. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  231 

The  roster  which  is  being  compiled  by  the  Iowa  war  roster  com- 
mission will  be  accompanied  with  a  certain  amount  of  historical 
matter  of  a  general  nature,  and  will  constitute  a  most  valuable 
addition  to  the  war  history  of  the  State. 

The  most  comprehensive  plan  for  the  writing  of  Iowa's  part  in 
the  World  War  is  that  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa.  In  a 
series  entitled  "Iowa  Chronicles  of  the  World  War"  the  society  is 
planning  to  issue  volumes  covering  all  phases  of  the  war  activities 
of  the  State  both  at  home  and  overseas.  These  volumes  will  be 
assigned  to  historically  trained  men  and  will  be  the  result  of  careful 
research.  One  volume  is  already  completed  and  several  others  are 
nearing  completion. 

KANSAS. 

This  report  was  prepared  from  a  letter  by  F.  H.  Hodder,  Department  of  His- 
tory and  Political  Science,  University  of  Kansas. 

The  history  men  of  the  University  of  Kansas  were  sufficiently 
active  during  the  war.  Mr.  Hodder  organized  50  sections  of  the 
war  aims  course,  taught  two  of  them,  and  lectured  at  Camp  Funston. 
Mr.  Patterson  was  one  of  a  committee  of  three  that  administered 
all  the  educational  work  of  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  He 
also  taught  two  sections  of  the  war  aims  course.  Mr.  Moore  was  in 
Washington  working,  first  for  the  War  Trade  Board  and  later  in 
the  Department  of  State.  Mr.  Melvin  gave  all  the  lectures  for  seven 
sections  of  the  vocational  group.  Mr.  Davis  was  engaged  in  Red 
Cross  work  on  the  firing  line  in  France.  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr. 
Chubb  did  double  duty  in  teaching.  The  instructors  in  other  edu- 
cational institutions  were,  in  all  probability,  equally  active. 

KENTUCKY. 

By  Fred  P.  Caldwell,  State  Historian  for  Kentucky  Council  of  Defense. 

There  was  not,  during  the  years  1917,  1918,  and  1919,  nor  is  there 
at  this  time  a  Historical  Commission  in  Kentucky.  The  only  war 
history  work  that  has  been  done  is  that  which  is  being  done  under 
the  direction  and  supervision  of  the  Kentucky  Council  of  Defense. 
That  body  was  created  by  the  Kentucky  Legislature  in  March,  1918. 
While  the  purpose  of  the  council  was  "  to  assist  the  State  and  Fed- 
eral Governments  during  the  contiuance  of  war,"  it  was  felt  that 
this  statement  of  the  purposes  of  the  council  was  broad  enough  to 
include  the  diffusion  of  historical  information,  and  the  gathering 
and  preserving  of  historical  material. 

From  the  date  of  its  creation  the  Kentucky  Council  of  Defense  co- 
operated with  the  Council  of  National  Defense  and  the  Committee 
on  Public  Information  in  the  diffusion  of  historical  information 


232  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

necessary  to  an  enlightened  public  opinion  regarding  the  issues  of 
the  war,  this  being  done  by  procuring  the  publication  in  newspapers 
and  periodicals  of  articles  furnished  for  that  purpose,  and  also  by 
promoting  the  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  containing  im- 
portant historical  matter.  Books  and  pamphlets  furnished  by  the 
Committee  on  Public  Information  were  widely  distributed  for  the 
use  of  speakers.  Many  speakers  of  national  and  international  fame 
were  brought  to  the  State  by  the  State  council  of  defense  with  the 
cooperation  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  and  the  Committee 
on  Public  Information,  Sir  Frederick  E.  Smith  (now  Lord  Birken- 
head), then  attorney  general  of  Great  Britain  and  now  lord  chan- 
cellor, being  among  the  number.  The  week  of  September  25  to  30 
was  set  apart  by  the  publicity  committee  of  the  State  council  of 
defense  as  patriotic  week,  and  during  that  period  898  different  pa- 
triotic meetings  were  held  in  the  State  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
H.  H.  Cherry,  chairman  of  that  committee,  the  total  number  of 
meetings  held  under  the  direction  of  that  committee  during  the  war 
being  more  than  3,000.  Prizes  were  awarded  in  the  schools  and 
colleges  for  essays  and  speeches  on  patriotic  subjects,  and  in  other 
ways  the  young  people  of  the  State  were  enlightened  as  to  the  issues 
of  the  war.  The  Kentucky  Council  of  Defense,  the  food  administra- 
tion, the  fuel  administration,  the  American  Red  Cross,  and  other 
war  agencies  cooperated  with  the  Federal  Government  in  many  and 
varied  ways  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Realizing  that  much  valuable  material  relating  to  the  part  which 
Kentucky  was  playing  in  the  war  would  be  lost  unless  promptly 
collected  and  preserved,  the  State  council,  in  September,  1918,  took 
active  steps  to  collect  and  preserve  historical  records.  It  appointed 
a  "  State  historian,"  and  caused  local  historians  to  be  appointed  in 
each  of  the  120  counties  in  the  State.  The  county  historians  in  turn 
appointed  assistants  in  the  various  parts  of  their  counties,  and  thus 
the  work  was  begun. 

The  historical  work  not  having  been  finished  on  March  15,  1920, 
when  the  State  council  of  defense  passed  out  of  existence,  the  Ken- 
tucky Legislature  continued  it  in  existence  as  the  Kentucky  Council 
of  Defense  for  two  years  longer — that  is,  until  March  15,  1922 — for 
the  sole  purpose  of  completing  and  preserving  Kentucky's  war 
history. 

When  the  work  was  first  taken  up  by  the  council  there  were  few 
precedents  to  guide  it.  It  was  necessary  to  formulate  a  plan  of  its 
own,  and  to  prepare  forms  and  blanks.  It  was  determined  that  two 
main  branches  of  work  would  be  done — first,  to  collect  in  the  central 
office  records  of  State-wide  interest,  and,  second,  to  collect  in  each 
county  records  of  special  interest  to  the  people  of  the  county. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  233 

First,  as  to  the  county  records.  The  plan  adopted  for  the  county 
records  called  for  three  separate  lines  of  work;  first,  making  indi- 
vidual records  on  "  war  record  sheets "  of  all  soldiers,  sailors,  ma- 
rines, chaplains,  nurses,  aviators,  and  others  from  Kentucky  who 
were  in  the  service  during  the  war;  second,  making  records  of  the 
work  done  by  the  county  councils  of  defense,  Red  Cross,  Liberty 
loan  committees,  war  savings  stamps  committees,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  M. 
H.  A.,  Knights  of  Columbus,  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  women's  clubs, 
War  Camp  Community  Service,  Salvation  Army,  Boy  Scouts,  Boys' 
Working  Reserve,  food  and  fuel  administrators,  War  Mothers,  Four- 
Minute  Men,  churches,  schools,  and  all  other  organizations  which 
did  war  work;  third,  collecting  and  preserving  other  war  data  and 
records  of  historical  interest. 

In  June,  1919,  the  council  of  defense  conducted  a  State-wide 
"  historical  drive,"  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  arouse  public  interest 
in  the  collection  and  preservation  of  historical  material.  In  this 
drive  the  newspapers  of  the  State  were  of  great  help.  They  pub- 
lished for  several  weeks  lists  of  the  men  who  died  or  were  wounded 
in  the  service,  citations  of  men  who  had  won  special  honors,  sketches 
of  Kentucky's  ranking  officers,  reports  of  work  done  by  local  organi- 
zations, and  articles  prepared  by  the  local  historians  relating  to  the 
county's  war  history. 

In  several  counties  the  local  historians  prepared  the  material  for, 
and  the  papers  printed,  "  historical "  and  "  memorial "  editions.  In 
this  way  a  great  deal  of  material  of  permanent  historical  value  was 
preserved.  These  special  editions  contained  fairly  complete  records 
of  the  part  which  the  various  counties  played  in  the  war,  both 
through  their  armed  forces  and  their  civilian  war  workers.  Some 
of  the  papers  published  photographs  of  the  men  who  had  given 
their  lives,  and  photographs  of  the  principal  civilian  workers.  The 
historical  drive  was  an  unqualified  success,  and  through  the  pub- 
licity which  it  created  the  local  historians  were  able  to  collect  a  great 
deal  of  valuable  material. 

By  the  use  of  "  war-record  blanks,"  which  were  sent  to  each 
county,  it  was  proposed  to  secure  the  following  information  as  to 
each  person  in  the  service:  Name,  rank,  address,  nearest  relative, 
date  and  place  of  entrance  into  the  service,  branch  in  which  he 
served,  promotions,  casualties,  date  of  discharge,  etc.  While  many 
of  the  counties  have  had  war-record  blanks  filled  for  practically  all 
of  the  men  in  the  service,  there  are  still  many  counties  in  which 
only  a  small  number  of  blanks  have  been  filled,  and  some  in  which 
no  records  of  any  kind  have  been  made.  To  remedy  this  condition 
it  is  the  purpose  of  the  council,  during  the  next  two  years,  to  send 
to  each  county  a  copy  of  the  "  statement  of  service  "  of  each  soldier 
and  sailor  from  that  county.     This  can  be  done  by  copying  the 


234  AMEBICAN  HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

"  statements  of  service  "  when  they  are  sent  to  the  adjutant  general 
of  Kentucky  by  the  adjutant  general  of  the  United  States. 

When  the  county  records  are  completed  they  should  contain  state- 
ments of  service  of  all  soldiers  and  sailors  who  lived  in  that  county, 
reports  of  war  work  of  civilian  organizations,  records  of  the  men 
who  died  or  were  wounded,  copies  of  the  citations  of  the  men  who 
won  special  honors,  photographs,  addresses,  and  newspaper  and  other 
articles  of  historical  value.  The  records  will  be  bound  in  permanent 
form  and  placed  in  the  archives  of  the  county. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  main  purpose  of  the  council  is  to  help 
each  county  make  for  itself  a  permanent  record  of  its  war  activities. 
It  is  believed  that  such  records,  using  each  county  as  a  unit,  will  be 
of  far  greater  value  than  would  be  the  gathering  of  a  great  mass 
of  material  at  one  central  depository.  No  plans  have  been  made  as 
yet  for  the  publication  of  any  material.  No  doubt  many  of  the 
counties  will  at  some  time  in  the  future  publish  their  county  war 
histories. 

Most  of  the  material  to  be  collected  and  preserved  in  the  central 
office  of  the  council  will  be  records  of  State- wide  interest.  Some  rec- 
ords collected  and  to  be  collected  include  the  following:  Records  of 
Kentuckians  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  service;  records  of  the 
wounded;  list  of  Kentuckians  who  won  special  honors,  with  copies 
of  official  citations  and  newspaper  clippings  with  reference  to  such 
honors ;  reports  of  State- wide  work  of  Kentucky  Council  of  Defense, 
Liberty  loan  campaigns,  war  savings  stamp  campaigns,  food  and 
fuel  administrators,  Red  Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  M.  H.  A.,  Knights 
of  Columbus,  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  women's  clubs,  schools, 
churches,  Four-Minute  Men,  selective  service  department,  and  other 
war  work  agencies;  histories  of  overseas  divisions  in  which  Ken- 
tucky men  served;  naval  activities;  transport  service;  rosters  of 
Kentucky  men  in  each  division ;  rosters  of  Kentucky  men  at  officers' 
training  camps;  Students'  Army  Training  Corps;  roster  of  Ken- 
tucky National  Guard;  histories  of  Camp  Taylor,  Camp  Knox,  and 
Fort  Thomas ;  statements  of  services  of  Kentucky  physicians,  nurses, 
chaplains,  and  Army  welfare  workers  in  the  war  zone. 

From  this  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  proposed  to  make 
the  war  history  of  each  county  in  the  State  complete  in  itself,  and 
collect  at  the  central  office  war  literature  and  records  of  State-wide 
interest. 

LOUISIANA. 

By  M.  J.  White,  Department  of  History,  The  Tulane  University  of  Louisiana. 

Louisiana  has  not  been  particularly  active  in  the  collection  and 
publication  of  war  history  material,  but  from  present  indications 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR. 


235 


the  legislature,  which  assembles  at  Baton  Rouge  this  month  (May, 
1920),  will  make  an  appropriation  for  the  purpose. 

The  State  council  for  defense  undertook  an  important  work  when 
it  made  arrangements  for  compiling  a  record  of  every  soldier,  sailor, 
marine,  volunteer,  and  member  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State 
who  was  in  Federal  service.  A  war  record  director  has  been  ap- 
pointed for  each  of  the  64  parishes,  a  house-to-house  canvass  under- 
taken for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  necessary  data,  and  the  records 
are  to  be  preserved  in  leather-bound  volumes.  A  copy  of  the  record 
for  each  parish  is  to  be  placed  on  file  at  the  parish  courthouse,  and  a 
complete  record  for  Louisiana  will  be  kept  in  the  State  files  at  the 

capitol. 

Since  the  first  of  the  year  two  pamphlets  dealing  with  war 
activities  in  Louisiana  have  been  published.  "  Louisiana  in  the  War," 
by  Herman  J.  Seiferth,  published  and  sold  by  the  Times-Picayune, 
of  New  Orleans,  consists  in  the  main  of  short  reports  by  chairmen 
or  members  of  the  various  committees  and  boards  that  made  up  the 
State  war  organization.  Isoline  Rodd  Kendall  (Mrs.  John  S.  Ken- 
dall) has  written  "A  Brief  History  of  Woman's  Committee,  Council 
of  National  Defense,  New  Orleans  Division." 

In  the  public  parks  of  New  Orleans  and  in  many  of  the  cities 
and  towns  of  Louisiana  memorial  groves  of  live-oak  trees  have  been 
set  out;  memorial  tablets  have  been  placed  in  public  buildings  all 
over  the  State;  libraries  have  collected  war  books  and  pamphlets  and 
war  posters ;  and  the  Louisiana  State  Museum,  at  New  Orleans,  has 
brought  together  a  considerable  collection  of  valuable  war  relics. 

At  the  present  time  $300,000  is  being  raised  by  public  subscription, 
portions  of  this  sum  being  allotted  to  each  of  the  parishes,  for  a 
State  memorial,  to  be  placed  upon  the  grounds  of  the  State  university 
at  Baton  Rouge,  in  memory  of  Louisianians  who  lost  their  lives  in 

the  war. 

Prof.  William  Woodward,  of  the  Newcomb  School  of  Art,  Tulane 
University,  has,  upon  his  own  initiative,  and  at  his  own  expense, 
painted  the  portraits  of  several  Louisiana  men  and  women  who  served 
the;r  country  in  Europe.  He  has  hopes  that  his  pictures  may  becom© 
the  nucleus  of  a  State  collection  to  record  the  late  war. 

MAINE. 
By  Orren  C.  Hormell,  Department  of  History,  Bowdoin  College. 

The  historically  trained  men  and  women  of  Maine  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  were  among  the  first  to  devote  themselves  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war  either  in  the  active  military  service  or  in  those  lines 
of  domestic  service  for  which  their  training  had  best  prepared  them. 
Those  in  the  historical  profession  in  Maine  who  were  so  unfortunate 


236  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

as  to  be  excluded  from  active  military  or  naval  service  contributed 
in  no  small  measure  toward  making  the  prosecution  of  the  war  suc- 
cessful. Members  of  the  department  of  history  and  government  in 
all  four  Maine  colleges  (Bates,  Bowdoin,  Colby,  and  the  University 
of  Maine)  gave  public  lectures  upon  historical  and  political  subjects 
which  would  aid  the  citizen  to  understand  the  issues  of  the  war  and 
win  their  undivided  support  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 
During  the  life  of  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  the  depart- 
ments of  history  and  government  of  the  four  Maine  colleges  were 
turned  over  almost  entirely  to  the  teaching  of  war  subjects.  At 
Bates  College  the  war  issues  course  was  given  by  Prof.  R.  R.  N. 
Gould;  at  Bowdoin,  Prof.  O.  C.  Hormell  was  the  director  of  the 
course  and  Prof.  Daniel  Stanwood  of  the  department  gave  some  of 
the  lectures.  At  Colby,  Prof.  William  Black  had  charge  of  the 
course ;  while  at  the  University  of  Maine  Prof.  Caroline  Colvin  and 
Asst.  Prof.  Albert  A.  Whitmore  shared  in  the  conducting  of  the 
course. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Hormell,  of  Bowdoin,  and  Prof.  Stewart  Macdonald, 
of  Colby,  gave  a  course  in  military  law  in  their  respective  colleges. 

Froin  March  until  June  of  1919  Prof.  O.  C.  Hormell,  of  Bowdoin, 
as  a  member  of  the  Army  Education  Corps  of  the  American  Ex- 
peditionary Forces  taught  civics  at  the  American  University  at 
Beaune,  Cote  d'Or,  France,  and  lectured  on  political  subjects  at 
several  American  Expeditionary  Forces  posts  in  France. 

The  most  noteworthy  work  done  in  consequence  of  their  historical 
training,  by  historically  trained  men  in  Maine,  during  the  war,  was 
by  Prof.  (Capt.)  Herbert  C.  Bell  and  Prof.  (Capt.)  Thomas  Van 
Cleve,  of  the  department  of  history  at  Bowdoin  College.  When  it 
was  discovered  by  general  headquarters  in  December,  1917,  that 
Capt.  Bell  was  a  trained  historian,  he  was  assigned  the  task  of  sub- 
mitting daily,  to  the  commander  in  chief,  confidential  reports  on  the 
political  developments  in  the  various  belligerent  countries.  Soon 
afterwards  he  was  made  editor  of  the  Press  Review.  In  May,  1918, 
Capt.  Bell  was  detailed  to  write  the  confidential  cables  which  were 
sent  regularly  twice  a  day  by  the  commander  in  chief  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War.  After  the  armistice  he  was  sent  to  London  to  in- 
vestigate all  known  schemes  for  a  league  of  nations,  and  to  prepare 
copies  for  Gen.  Bliss  of  the  Peace  Commission.  During  December 
(1918),  and  January  (1919),  he  submitted  three  reports — (a)  a  col- 
lection of  schemes,  (b)  a  critical  abstract  of  the  schemes  presented, 
and  (c)  a  proposed  constitution  for  the  league  based  upon  the 
abstract.  In  this  work  he  was  ably  assisted  by  Lieut.  Lawrence 
Crosby  (Bangor,  Me.),  who  had  received  his  historical  and  legal 
training  at  Bowdoin  and  Oxford. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WORLD  WAR.  237 

Prof.  (Capt.)  Van  Cleve,  September,  1918,  was  made  a  member 
of  a  special  department  maintained  at  general  headquarters  for 
studying  the  political  conditions  in  the  allied  and  enemy  countries. 
He  was  put  in  charge  of  the  "enemy  sections"  and  prepared  sev- 
eral articles  each  week  on  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary.  The 
articles,  especially  after  the  armistice,  dealt  with  such  questions  as 
German  morale,  activities  of  the  political  parties,  revolutionary  move- 
ments, the  financial  and  economic  situation,  workingmen's  and  sol- 
diers' councils,  the  new  German  constitution,  etc.  The  articles  pre- 
pared by  Prof.  Van  Cleve  appeared  in  the  "Press  Review,  Second 
Section,  General  Staff,  General  Headquarters,  American  Expedi- 
tionary Force." 

State  and  local  war  materials  were  quite  generally  preserved 
throughout  the  State.  Through  the  offices  of  the  adjutant  general, 
State  librarian,  and  committee  of  public  safety,  records  have  been 
kept  of  the  various  war  activities  within  the  State,  much  of  which 
will  be  published  by  the  State  in  due  time.  Much  data  concerning 
the  local  participation  in  the  war  have  been  preserved  by  the  Maine 
Historical  Society  Library,  Evelyn  L.  Gilmore,  librarian;  Bangor 
Public  Library,  Charles  A.  Flagg  (now  deceased),  librarian;  Port- 
land Public  Library,  Alice  C.  Furbish,  librarian;  and  by  the  libraries 
of  the  four  Maine  colleges. 

Rev.  Edwin  Carey  Whittemore,  a  trained  historian,  of  Water- 
ville,  collected  data  on,  and  is  now  preparing  a  history  of,  the.  war 
records  of  Waterville  and  Winslow. 

MARYLAND. 

By  Karl  Singewald,  Maryland  War  Records  Commission. 

Patriotic  Education. — The  work  of  patriotic  education  was  carried 
on  actively  and  effectively  in  Maryland,  especially  by  the  educational 
committees  of  the  Maryland  Council  of  Defense  and  of  the  women's 
section,  and  by  the  four-minute  men.  The  committees  cooperated 
with  the  Government  to  the  fullest  extent  in  distributing  the  litera- 
ture issued  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  and  other 
Government  agencies,  and  conducted  public  meetings  continually 
throughout  the  State. 

Dr.  John  H.  Latane,  professor  of  American  history,  and  Dr.  A.  O. 
Love  joy,  professor  of  philosophy,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
were  notably  active  in  patriotic  speaking  and  in  directing  the  edu- 
cational campaign.  Dr.  Lovejoy  prepared  a  pamphlet,  "What  are 
we  fighting  about?"  which  was  printed  by  the  Maryland  Council 
of  Defense.  This  pamphlet  went  through  five  editions,  and  attained 
a  considerable  circulation  even  outside  of  the  State  of  Maryland. 


238  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  history  department  of  Goucher  College  devoted  its  efforts 
largely  along  war  lines.  A  series  of  eight  public  lectures  upon 
the  Origin  of  the  Great  War  was  delivered  by  Asst.  Prof.  Katharine 
J.  Gallagher-  The  department  cooperated  with  the  National  Board 
of  Historical  Research  in  furnishing  bibliographies  upon  special 
issues  of  the  war.  Asst.  Prof.  Mary  W.  Williams  prepared  a 
bibliography  of  the  war  for  the  History  Teachers'  Magazine  in  1918. 
Dr.  Ella  Lonn  prepared  a  syllabus  for  general  courses  on  patriotic 
education.  This  syllabus  was  published  as  "  What  Uncle  Sam  and 
Maryland  do  for  you,"  under  the  auspices  of  the  Americanization 
committee  of  the  women's  civic  league  of  Baltimore.  All  members 
of  the  department  were  active  in  patriotic  speaking  and  instruction. 

Mention  should  be  made  also  of  the  book,  America's  Case  Against 
Germany,  by  a  Mary  lander,  Dr.  Lindsay  Rogers,  adjunct  professor 
of  political  science,  University  of  Virginia,  an  excellent  study  of 
the  events  leading  up  to  our  entrance  into  the  war  in.  the  light  of 
international  law. 

War  records. — The  State  of  Maryland  has  made  adequate  pro- 
vision for  compiling  its  war  records  in  a  very  comprehensive  and 
thorough  way.  The  Maryland  Council  of  Defense,  after  the  armi- 
stice, created  a  historical  division  for  this  important  undertaking. 
The  legislature,  at  its  recent  session,  passed  an  act  creating  a  war 
records  commission  of  five  members  to  take  up  and  carry  on  the 
work  of  the  historical  division. 

The  undertaking  of  the  historical  division  includes:  (1)  records 
of  all  Marylanders  who  served  in  the  military  and  naval  forces  of 
the  United  States  or  of  the  Allies  in  the  war,  and  letters,  diaries,  etc. ; 

(2)  records  of  military  units  composed  largely  of  Marylanders; 

(3)  records  of  military  establishments  in  Maryland  during  the  war; 

(4)  records  of  Marylanders  who  rendered  noteworthy  service  in  rela- 
tion to  the  war  in  a  civilian  capacity,  in  Government  positions,  in 
welfare  or  relief  work,  in  finance  or  industry,  etc.;  (5)  records  of 
nonmilitary  war  agencies  and  activities,  in  Maryland;  (6)  records 
of  Maryland  war  industries;  (7)  war  exhibits — photographs,  post- 
ers, publications,  etc. 

Historical  committees  were  organized  in  the  counties  of  the  State. 
These  committees  are  serving  gratuitously,  and  in  many  of  the 
counties  are  doing  excellent  work.  Altogether  the  compilation  of 
the  historical  records  is  progressing  very  satisfactorily. 

The  report  of  the  Maryland  Council  of  Defense  to  the  Governor 
and  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  a  printed  volume  of  330  pages, 
covers  fuily  the  history  of  the  council  and  of  the  many  war  activi- 
ties conducted  with  its  support.  The  appendix  is  an  important  col- 
lection of  documentary  material — laws,  reports,  and  other  papers. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR,  239 

Appendix, 
program  for  war  records. 

1.  Military  Records  (individual). — Over  60,000  Marylanders  were  in  the 
service.  The  commission  is  endeavoring  to  obtain  the  war  service  record  of 
every  such  Marylander,  on  a  form  prepared  for  this  purpose.  It  is  meant  to 
include  Army,  Navy  and  Marine  Corps,  and  also  services  transferred  to  the 
military  forces  during  the  war — Public  Health  Service,  Coast  Guard,  Light 
house  Service  and  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  personnel,  etc.  It  is  desired 
also  to  include  those  who  served  in  the  forces  of  the  Allies,  whether  before  or 
after  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  war. 

In  addition  to  the  formal  war  service  records,  the  commission  urgently  re- 
quests photographs,  copies  of  citations  and  commendations,  clippings,  letters, 
narratives,  diaries,  etc.  Such  material  is  of  very  great  interest  and  value  for 
the  historical  collection. 

Marylanders  include  not  only  those  who  entered  the  service  from  Maryland, 
but  also  those  who  formerly  lived  here.  Whenever,  for  any  reason,  the  form 
cannot  be  filled  out  by  the  one  who  was  in  the  service,  it  should  be  done  by  a 
member  of  the  family. 

2.  Military  Units. — It  is  extremely  important  to  gather  as  full  records  as  pos- 
sible of  the  military  units  in  which  Marylanders  served,  and  of  ships  and  naval 
stations.  The  records  desired  include  histories,  rosters,  especially  of  Maryland 
men  (with  addresses),  copies  of  official  orders  and  other  records,  narratives, 
diaries,  unit  newspapers,  photographs,  insignia,  trophies,  souvenirs,  etc.;  also 
records  of  activities  of  auxiliary  organizations  of  the  various  units. 

3.  Military  Establishments  in  Maryland. — Maryland,  on  account  of  favorable 
location,  received  a  large  share  of  the  big  Army  and  Navy  establishments  re- 
quired by  the  war — notably  Camp  Meade,  Camp  Holabird,  Aberdeen  proving 
ground,  Edgewood  Arsenal,  Curtis  Bay  ordnance  depot,  zone  supply  and  port 
storage  office,  General  Hospital  No.  2  at  Fort  McHenry,  General  Hospital  No.  7 
at  Evergreen,  Jr.,  United  States  Naval  Academy,  Indianhead  naval  proving 
ground,  section  1  of  Fifth  Naval  District,  Naval  Overseas  Transportation 
Service,  and  a  score  of  other  camps,  posts,  and  offices. 

Official  histories  and  records  of  personnel  are  being  received,  of  course,  but 
It  is  greatly  desired  to  obtain  also  all  possible  records,  including  historical  state- 
ments or  narratives  by  Marylanders  stationed  at  such  establishments,  copies  of 
camp  or  post  newspapers,  other  publications,  clippings,  photographs,  souve- 
nirs, etc. 

4.  Civilian  records  (individual). — A  form  of  war  service  record  somewhat 
similar  to  the  military  form  is  being  used  for  record  of  civilians  connected  with 
the  Army  or  Navy  or  in  the  war  work  of  the  welfare  organizations,  and  of 
those  who  rendered  service  of  special  importance  or  had  experiences  of  unusual 
interest  in  any  capacity  in  relation  to  the  war — in  government  position,  in 
finance  or  industry,  in  patriotic,  welfare  or  relief  agency,  etc.  It  is  desired  to 
include  services  prior  to  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  war,  and 
also  reconstruction  activities. 

5.  Civilian  war  agencies  and  activities. — There  were  a  number  of  war  agencies 
that  stood  out  conspicuously:  the  Maryland  Council  of  Defense;  such  United 
States  Government  agencies  as  the  Selective  Service  Boards  (military  in 
function),  Food  Administration,  Fuel  Administration,  Shipping  Board,  Railroad 
Administration,  Liberty  loan,  war  savings;  the  Red  Cross;  welfare  organiza- 
tions operating  under  the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities,  including 


240  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

the  Y.  M.  C.  A..  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  K.  of  C,  J.  W.  B.,  Salvation  Army,  A.  L.  A,  and 

w.  c.  c.  s. 

The  compilation  of  war  records,  however,  is  not  limited  to  these  especially 
conspicuous  agencies  It  is  important  to  secure  adaquate  records  of  every 
agency  and  activity  in  Maryland  in  relation  to  the  war :  United  States  Govern- 
ment offices  and  activities;  State,  county,  and  local  governing  bodies  and 
officers;  patriotic,  welfare,  and  relief  organizations;  financial  institutions  and 
business  houses;  commercial,  agricultural,  and  labor  organizations;  profes- 
sional associations ;  churches,  schools,  fraternal  organizations ;  public  meetings, 
celebrations  or  other  notable  events,  etc.  Broadly,  it  may  be  stated  that  a 
historical  report  is  desired  from  every  organization  that  did  anything  worthy 
of  record  in  relation  to  the  war. 

The  records  desired  include  history  of  war  activities,  including  record  of 
personnel;  clippings;  forms,  publications,  posters;  photographs  and  other  ex- 
hibits, etc.  The  war  records  commission,  moreover,  is  the  proper  depository  for 
the  files  and  records,  e.  g„  minute  books,  correspondence,  etc.,  of  agencies  of  a 
temporary  character. 

6.  War  industries.— The  contribution  of  Maryland's  industries  to  the  win- 
ning of  the  war  was  very  large,  notably  in  shipbuilding  and  munitions,  but 
also  in  a  great  many  other  lines.  The  war  records  commission  urgently  re- 
quests a  historical  report  from  every  Maryland  manufacturer,  producer,  dealer, 
or  contractor  on  production,  supply,  or  construction  work  for  war  purposes. 

7.  Newspaper  files  and  clippings. — Newspaper  files  for  the  period  of  the 
war  constitute  very  important  historical  records.  Since  it  is  impossible  in 
many  cases  to  obtain  complete  files,  it  will  be  helpful  if  anyone  who  has  copies 
preserved  of  Maryland  newspapers  of  date  between  July  1,  1914,  and  October 
1,  1919,  will  contribute  them.  Clippings  also  of  items  of  war  interest  are 
valuable. 

8.  War  literature,  etc. — It  is  desired  to  collect  all  literature — books,  pam- 
phlets, addresses,  sermons,  poetry— produced  by  Marylanders,  or  related  to 
events  in  Maryland  in  connection  with  the  war.  Also,  similarly,  music, 
drawings,  paintings,  cartoons,  etc. 

Note. — For  the  sake  of  uniformity,  all  reports,  papers,  etc.,  as  far  as  possible, 
should  be  on  letter  size  paper  (8^  by  11). 

MICHIGAN. 

By  Charles  Landrum,  Special  Historian  of  the  Michigan  War  Preparedness 

Board. 

In  no  war  has  there  been  so  full  a  realization  of  the  importance 
of  events  and  relationships  as  in  the  late  World  War.  Along 
with  the  development  of  the  destructive  branches  of  the  military, 
there  have  been  evolved  constructive  agencies  that  were  to  outlast  the 
war  activities  of  the  Governments  and  contribute  much  toward  the 
solution  of  reconstruction  problems  which  now  confront  the  Nation. 
Important  among  these  agencies  is  the  historical  interest  shown  dur- 
ing the  war  by  which  the  contemporary  activities,  both  civil  and 
military,  are  being  chronicled  and  carefully  preserved  for  the  use 
of  the  future  historian.  In  the  State  of  Michigan  the  importance  of 
this  historical  interest  was  early  recognized  and  provision  made 
for  the  collection,  classification  and  preservation  of  such  documen- 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR. 


241 


tary  and  ephemeral  material  as  would  make  it  possible  to  transmit 
to  the  coming  generations  a  complete  and  accurate  account  of  the 
State's  civil  and  military  activities  in  the  war. 

During  the  period  of  the  World  War  prior  to  America's  entrance, 
sufficient  time  elapsed  to  permit  a  thorough  consideration  of  the 
issues  at  stake  in  the  great  struggle.  Viewing  our  participation  in 
the  war  as  a  remote  possibility,  students  directed  their  energies  and 
efforts  along  almost  purely  historical  lines.  These  lines  of  investi- 
gation almost  invariably  lead  through  the  labyrinthian  windings 
of  the  diplomatic  relations  involved  in  the  evolution  of  the  Triple 
Alliance  and  that  of  the  Entente,  together  with  a  more  or  less  super- 
ficial study  of  the  unification  of  Germany  and  the  development  of 
the  military  system  of  Prussia  with  its  counterpart  in  the  respective 
nations  involved  in  the  war.  Students  and  scholars  used  this  purely 
historical  background  as  a  setting  for  comparisons  between  the  Prus- 
sian and  American  systems  of  government. 

With  the  end  of  American  neutrality  and  our  entrance  into  the 
struggle  appear  such  articles  as  "The  University  of  Michigan  in  the 
War)'  by  Kobert  Mark  Wenby  and  by  Arthur  Lyon  Cross;  "Michi- 
gan in  the  Great  War,"  by  Col.  Roy  C.  Vandercook;  "History  of 
Camp  Custer,"  by  Lieut.  George  H.  Maines;  "  History  of  the  Thirty- 
Second  Division,"  by  Lieut.  Col.  August  H.  Gansser;  and  many 
others  bearing  on  aspects  of  the  relation  of  Michigan  to  the  war; 
while  the  book  entitled  "  Democracy  and  the  Great  War,"  by  George 
Newman  Fuller,  secretary  of  the  Michigan  Historical  Commission, 
put  out  by  the  State  department  of  public  instruction  for  use  in  the 
schools  throughout  the  State  and  largely  used  in  the  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps,  in  a  very  concise  and  able  manner  dealt  with  the 
national  phase  of  the  subject.  These  and  many  other  creditable 
productions  had  for  their  motive,  for  the  most  part,  the  clarification 
of  the  issues  of  the  war  with  a  view  to  deepening  spiritual  convic- 
tions and  thus  making  the  State  more  efficient  as  a  unit  in  the  war 

machine. 

The  collection  and  preservation  of  the  official  records  and  other 
historical  data  relating  to  the  war  has  largely  devolved  upon  the 
public  libraries  of  the  State,  which  have  become  the  depositories  for 
all  agencies  engaged  in  this  phase  of  the  work.  The  State  board  of 
library  commissioners  made  plans  for  the  performance  of  this  service, 
and  all  the  libraries  of  the  State  have  assisted  in  its  execution.  In 
such  libraries  as  the  Detroit  Public  Library,  State  Library,  the 
libraries  of  the  University  of  Michigan  and  the  colleges  of  the  State, 
Grand  Rapids  Public  Library,  Saginaw  Public  Library,  Kalamazoo 
Public  Library,  the  Houghton  Public  Library,  and  many  others, 
are  preserved  complete  files  of  the  newspapers  and  magazines  of 
25066°— 23 16 


242  AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Michigan,  as  well  as  the  documentary  and  more  ephemeral  material 
relating  to  the  war.  These  collections  are  increasing  daily  in  vol- 
ume, and  only  the  lack  of  facilities  properly  to  care  for  this  material 
will  embarrass  the  librarians  who  have  voluntarily  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility for  this  work. 

The  popular  lecture  proved  to  be  a  valuable  means  of  enlightening 
the  public  in  regard  to  the  causes  of  the  war  and  in  maintaining  a 
spirit  of  devotion,  service,  and  sacrifice,  which  was  so  apparent 
throughout  the  entire  period  of  the  war.  The  efforts  of  the  uni- 
versity, the  colleges,  the  pulpit,  the  four-minute  men,  the  Chautau- 
qua and  lyceum  bureau,  and  the  Open  Forum  were  especially  com- 
mendable. Prominent  among  the  platform  orators  were  Prof.  Claude 
H.  Van  Tyne,  in  the  National  Security  League,  and  Caroline  Bart- 
lett  Crane,  head  of  the  women's  work  in  the  State,  and  many  others, 
who  gave  their  time  and  talent  in  an  effort  to  foster  and  sustain  a 
spirit  of  cooperation  and  unity. 

In  the  World  War  the  colleges  played  a  more  important  role  than 
in  any  previous  war — a  result  of  the  tremendous  growth  and  expan- 
sion of  the  colleges  and  universities  in  the  last  half  century.  Not 
only  did  the  alumni  and  students  furnish  the  leaders  in  the  prepa- 
ration  for  and  prosecution  of  the  war,  but  the  colleges  themselves 
become  nuclei  from  which  radiated  the  influences  necessary  to  sus-  ; 
tain  the  war  spirit  and  in  which  were  carried  on  the  scientific  activi- 
ties essential  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  a  modern  war.  Thus, 
during  the  war,  the  university  and  the  colleges  of  Michigan  were 
transformed  from  a  peace  basis  to  a  war  basis,  and  the  curricula 
revised  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  time,  by  the  introduction  of 
courses  on  causes  of  the  war,  food  conservation  and  substitutes,  nurs- 
ing, military  training,  naval  engineering,  etc.  So  complete  was  the 
transformation  that  by  the  close  of  1918,  when  the  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps  had  been  introduced,  the  university  and  colleges 
presented  the  appearance  of  armed  camps  rather  than  institutions 
of  learning. 

This  transformation  of  the  higher  institutions  was  inevitably 
reflected  in  the  high  schools  and  graded  systems.  By  legislative 
enactment,  military  training  was  made  compulsory  in  high  schools 
where  classes  of  20  or  more  made  application  for  that  subject. 
Such  organizations  as  the  Junior  Red  Cross  and  the  Boys'  Working 
Reserve  were  all-inclusive  of  the  public-school  system,  and  demand 
for  instruction  made  it  necessary  that  the  State  department  of 
public  instruction  supply  a  special  course  of  lessons  upon  the  great 
war,  thus  disseminating  much  historical  information  throughout  the 
State  and  rendering  public  opinion  more  enlightened  and  resolved. 
By  such  methods  public  opinion  was  thoroughly  aroused  and  senti- 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  243 

ment  so  crystallized  around  the  "  win  the  war  "  effort  that  the  State 
readily  responded  to  every  call  made  upon  it  in  the  struggle. 

The  most  important  agency,  both  as  regards  the  prosecution  of  the 
war  and  the  collection,  compilation,  and  preservation  of  historical 
material  relating  to  the  war,  has  been  the  Michigan  War  Prepared- 
ness Board,  created  by  legislative  enactment  April  18,  1917,  with  the 
duty  of  assuming  general  control  and  management  of  all  war  opera- 
tions within  the  State.  By  this  act  the  war  preparedness  board  was 
to  consist  of  Gov.  Albert  E.  Sleeper,  chairman;  Attorney  General 
Alex.  A.  Groesbeck;  Auditor  General  Oramel  B.  Fuller;  State  Treas- 
urer Samuel  Odell;  Secretary  of  State  Coleman  C.  Vaughan;  and 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  Thomas  E.  Johnson  (successor 
to  Fred  L.  Keeler,  deceased). 

Diversified  and  engrossing  as  were  the  duties  of  this  board,  yet  it 
found  time  to  provide  for  the  historical  interests  of  the  State. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  collection  of  war  records  of  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  from  their  respective  counties  and  for  collecting  and 
preserving  the  records  of  civilian  activities  relating  to  the  war. 
Through  the  cooperation  and  courtesy  of  the  Michigan  Historical 
Commission  and  the  Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical  Society,  the 
services  of  their  joint  secretary,  Dr.  George  Newman  Fuller,  were 
secured  by  the  war  board  to  take  charge  of  collecting  the  material 
and  of  publishing  a  history  of  Michigan  in  the  Great  War. 

Coeval  with  the  activities  of  the  war  preparedness  board  the 
Michigan  Historical  Commission  had  been  organizing  the  work  of 
collecting  and  preserving  the  material  relating  to  the  war,  both 
ephemeral  and  documentary.  The  Michigan  History  Magazine, 
published  quarterly  by  the  commission,  had  special  articles  giving 
publicity  to  the  drive  for  historical  material,  and  a  carefully  pre- 
pared bulletin  (No.  10)  containing  a  detailed  plan  for  collecting  ma- 
terial in  the  various  counties,  together  with  an  outline  for  county 
histories,  was  widely  distributed  throughout  the  State. 

The  method  of  collecting  the  material  has  been  to  organize  the 
county  as  a  unit,  enlisting  the  cooperation  of  the  local  historical  so- 
cieties and  various  social  and  patriotic  organizations,  such  as  the 
women's  clubs,  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  together  with  the  schools  and  libra- 
ries, and,  where  possible,  the  lodges,  churches,  and  business  men's 
organizations.  The  material  is  brought  to  a  central  depository  in 
the  county,  usually  a  public  library  at  the  county  seat,  where  it  is 
classified  and  filed  for  preservation.  In  this  way  the  spirit  of  local 
interest  and  pride  has  been  made  productive  along  historical  lines 
and  much  material  that  would  otherwise  be  lost  has  been  saved  from 
destruction  and  made  available  for  the  future  historian  of  the  war. 


244  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

MINNESOTA. 

By  William  Stearns  Davis,  Department  of  History,  University  of  Minnesota, 
and  Franklin  F.  Holbrook,  Secretary  of  the  Minnesota  War  Records  Com- 
mission. 

When  America  entered  the  World  War  it  is  probable  that  only 
in  two  or  three  States  of  the  Union  were  there  larger  elements  which 
misdoubted  the  need  of  belligerent  action,  and  which  for  varying 
motives  preached  "neutrality,"  than  were  present  in  Minnesota. 
This  was  not  entirely  due  to  the  existence  of  a  large  German  popu- 
lation. The  State  was  remote  from  any  possible  scene  of  hostili- 
ties; the  chief  economic  interests  centered  around  agriculture,  and 
international  problems,  dangers,  and  duties  were  very  vague  in  the 
minds  of  many  entirely  patriotic  citizens.  The  moment,  therefore, 
that  Congress  declared  war,  and  indeed  for  some  months  earlier, 
as  it  became  clearer  that  we  must  participate  in  the  European  strug- 
gle, the  obligation  of  social  science  teachers  in  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities of  the  State  was  plain — to  assist  in  teaching  their  fellow 
citizens  the  awful  seriousness  of  the  world  crisis  and  the  unavoid-  ; 
ability  of  our  playing  a  manly  part  in  it.  j 

Thus,  in  the  faculties  of  the  private  institutions,  Prof.  John  D. 
Hicks,  of  Hamline  University,  published  numerous  articles  on  war 
issues,  gave  patriotic  lectures  and  conducted  with  success  the  Stu- 
dents' Army  Training  Corps  war  aims  courses  in  his  institution. 
Similar  important  services  were  rendered  by  Prof.  Henry  D.  Funk, 
of  Macalester  College ;  and  Prof.  James  Howard  Robinson,  of  Carle- 
ton  College,  was  on  the  board  of  lectureship  for  the  National  Se- 
curity League  and  conducted  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  , 
war  aims  work  at  Northfield,  while  his  assistant,  Mr.  Henry  R. 
Mueller,  was  privileged  to  render  active  military  service  in  France 
during  the  war  period. 

At  the  University  of  Minnesota  very  soon  after  the  declaration 
of  war  a  conference  was  held  of  the  active  members  of  the  history 
and  political  science  departments,  at  which  it  was  agreed  to  under- 
take systematically  a  campaign  of  patriotic  education  throughout 
the  State.  The  keynote  of  the  conference  was  that  it  was  criminal 
to  ask  citizens  to  make  heavy  economic  sacrifices,  and,  very  possibly, 
themselves  to  fight  and  die,  unless  every  possible  means  were  taken 
to  convince  them  of  the  justice  and  necessity  of  our  joining  in  the 
struggle.  It  was  arranged  to  prepare  an  annotated  edition  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  War  Message,  explaining  all  the  historical  and  dip- 
lomatic allusions  in  a  form  capable  of  very  general  circulation. 
The  manuscript  of  this  annotated  edition  was  ready  in  April  from 
the  pens  of  Profs.  C.  D.  Allin  and  William  Anderson,  of  the  po- 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  245 

litical  science  department,  and  William  Stearns  Davis,  of  the  his- 
tory department ;  but  before  it  could  be  printed  locally  it  was  taken 
by  the  Federal  Committee  on  Public  Information  at  Washington. 
By  them  it  was  published  officially  as  the  first  in  their  much  circu- 
lated War  Information  Series  under  the  title  "  The  War  Message 
and  the  Facts  Behind  It,"  the  alterations  and  additions  to  the  origi- 
nal draft  being  very  few. 

This  publication  was  merely  the  forerunner  of  a  number  of  pa- 
triotic, informational  documents  prepared  by  members  of  the  State 
university  faculty.  Jn  May,  1917,  Dean  Guy  S.  Ford,  of  the  gradu- 
ate school,  was  summoned  to  Washington  as  director  of  the  civic 
and  educational  division  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information. 
He  remained  at  this  important  post  for  the  duration  of  the  war. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  was  responsible  for  an  extremely 
large  fraction  of  all  the  undeniable  successes  which  the  committee 
achieved,  and  that  he  was  never  associated  with  any  of  those  dis- 
cussions which  arose  around  some  by-products  of  that  well-known 
organization.  The  departure  of  Dean  Ford  was  the  beginning  of 
an  exodus  from  the  university  faculty,  which  sometimes  made  the 
prosecution  of  the  prosaic  but  indispensable  historical  teaching  work 
something  of  a  problem. 

At  the  request  of  the  Minnesota  State  Public  Safety  Commission 
a  popular  handbook  was  prepared,  mainly  by  the  social  science  de- 
partments, in  June,  1917 — "  Facts  About  the  War  " — a  brochure  of 
some  60  pages,  containing  brief  concrete  articles  calculated  to  sup- 
ply patriotic  speakers  with  handy,  specific  information  on  such 
matters  as  "  Submarine  aggressions,"  "  Conscription  v.  the  volunteer 
system,"  "  The  Pan-German  dream,"  "  The  Belgian  deportations," 
etc.  The  pamphlet  was  in  such  request  that  it  was  soon  reprinted, 
and  a  good  many  of  the  articles  were  also  reprinted  in  their  own 
speaker's  handbook,  issued  by  the  South  Carolina  State  Council  of 
Defense. 

In  the  fall  of  1917  Prof.  A.  C.  Krey,  of  the  department  of  history, 
went  to  Washington  and  devoted  considerable  time  rendering  effec- 
tive service  in  the  preparation  of  the  pamphlet, "  German  War  Prac- 
tices," which  was  issued  under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  Dana  C.  Munro, 
of  Princeton,  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  and  which 
raaked  among  the  most  effective  documents  issued  during  that  time 
of  ardor. 

Prof.  Wallace  Notestein,  of  the  department  of  history,  in  collabo- 
ration with  his  colleague,  Dr.  Elmer  Stoll,  of  the  English  depart- 
ment, about  the  same  time,  published  through  the  same  committee, 
first,  an  annotated  edition  of  "The  President's  Flag  Day  Oration 
(June  14, 1917),"  and  then  a  fairly  elaborate  volume, "  Conquest  and 


246  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

Kultur:  Aims  of  the  Germans  in  Their  Own  Words."  In  the  first 
pamphlet  they  had  the  assistance  of  Profs.  William  Anderson  and 
A.  C.  Krey;  in  the  second  that  of  Profs.  Anderson  and  Mason  W. 
Tyler,  also  two  or  three  other  scholars  in  sister  institutions.  The 
last-named  compilation,  prepared  with  learning  and  scrupulous 
accuracy,  was  widely  reprinted  in  the  newspapers  of  the  country. 

Prof.  Notestein  was  then  given  leave  of  absence  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota  for  the  duration  of  the  war.  He  worked  mainly  on 
Col.  House's  "  Inquiry "  of  experts  to  prepare  data  against  the 
negotiation  of  peace,  dealing  chiefly  with  the  problem  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  ;  subsequently  he  went  to  Paris  in  1919  and  occupied  a  dis- 
tinguished position  on  the  American  Commission  to  Negotiate  Peace, 
as  "chief  of  the  German  section."  Prof.  Mason  W.  Tyler  also 
conducted  investigations  and  prepared  reports  for  the  House  "In- 
quiry," his  field  being  the  Balkans  and  the  Adriatic. 

While  these  gentlemen  were  serving  the  cause  away  from  the 
campus  the  "common  task"  went  on  for  their  less  fortunate  col- 
leagues, handling  a  student  body,  which,  if  it  somewhat  lost  in 
numbers,  still  remained  large  and  replete  with  exacting  problems. 
The  history  department  was  administered  in  the  absence  of  Dean 
Ford,  by  Prof.  A.  B.  White;  and  in  September,  1918,  he  under- 
took the  arduous  duty  of  director  and  organizer  for  the  "  war  aims  " 
work  of  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps,  when  suddenly  some 
4,000  students,  many  of  them  with  exceedingly  fragmentary  notions 
of  human  annals,  had  to  be  put  through  an  adequate  course  in 
what  amounted  to  the  history  of  Europe  for  the  past  40  years. 
Thanks  to  Dr.  White  a  sufficient  corps  of  instructors  were  assem- 
bled, library  facilities  mobilized,  and  a  very  disjointed  body  of 
student  soldiers  set  at  systematic  problems.  The  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps  in  this  university  showed  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
same  undertaking  in  other  institutions,  but  it  is  right  to  assert  of 
the  "  war  aims  "  work  that  it  genuinely  gave  to  the  pupils  a  great 
deal;  that  many  of  them  left  the  university  with  clear  notions  of 
scientific  history,  as  well  as  a  mass  of  patriotic  propaganda ;  and  that 
the  success  of  the  "  war  aims  "  course  was  attested  by  the  fact  that 
after  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  was  disbanded  many 
students  who  had  attended  by  compulsion  while  in  khaki  cheerfully 
elected  history  when  they  continued  their  studies  by  free  choice. 

Nearly  all  the  other  members  of  the  history  and  political  science 
groups  found  opportunities  for  something  more  than  the  classroom 
routine.  Profs.  C.  D.  Allin  and  William  Anderson,  of  the  political 
science  department,  gave  numerous  patriotic  addresses  and  taught 
Students'  Army  Training  Corps  classes  in  "  war  aims."  Prof. 
Jeremiah  Young,  of  the  same  department,  besides  similar  service,  di- 
rected and  organized  special  courses  of  study  in  European  problems, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE   WORLD  WAR.  247 

especially  available  for  teacher's  institutes,  in  several  States  of  the 
Northwest.  He  also  acted  as  district  inspector  in  the  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps. 

In  the  history  department  Prof.  L.  B.  Shippee  taught  several  sec- 
tions in  the  "  war  aims  "  work  and  contributed  to  the  handbook  on 
diplomatic  history  published  by  the  Government  under  the  chief 
direction  of  Prof.  Frank  M.  Anderson,  of  Dartmouth  College.  Prof. 
Mason  W.  Tyler  cooperated  in  these  same  forms  of  work.  In  addi- 
tion he  assisted  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  several  of  its  pamphlets,  and  did  not  a  little  to  assemble 
material  on  many  significant  diplomatic  subjects  for  Col.  House's 
"  Inquiry  "  and  Prof.  F.  M.  Anderson's  handbook  on  foreign  rela- 
tions before  mentioned.  Prof.  Solon  J.  Buck,  besides  his  large 
services  through  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society,  elsewhere  referred 
to,  gave  public  addresses  and  taught  a  class  in  "  war  aims  "  during 
the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  epoch.  Prof.  N.  S.  B.  Gras  was 
instructor  in  a  similar  course ;  and  prior  to  his  coming  to  Minnesota, 
in  the  fall  of  1918,  he  had  been  research  assistant  in  the  War  Trade 
Board  at  Washington,  busied  chiefly  with  the  details  of  American 
trade  with  Italy  and  the  British  Empire. 

Finally  may  be  mentioned  the  work  of  Prof.  William  S.  Davis, 
who,  in  addition  to  teaching  in  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps 
work,  wrote,  in  collaboration  with  Profs.  William  Anderson  and 
Mason  W.  Tyler,  already  named,  "The  Roots  of  the  War — a  Non- 
technical History  of  Europe,  1870-1914."  This  book  was  published 
in  May,  1918,  by  the  Century  Co.,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Committee 
of  Public  Information.  It  enjoyed  considerable  circulation  in  civilian 
reading  circles  and  military  libraries,  and  was  adopted  by  about  50 
colleges  and  universities  as  their  textbook  in  the  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  American  participation  in  the  war 
the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  has  been  active  in  the  collection  of 
local  war  history  material,  but  for  some  time  the  burden  of  this  work 
has  rested  upon  a  separate,  though  closely  affiliated,  agency — the 
Minnesota  War  Records  Commission. 

This  commission  was  created  provisionally,  at  the  suggestion  and 
with  the  cooperation  of  the  historical  society,  by  the  Minnesota  Com- 
mission of  Public  Safety  in  October,  1918,  and  was  established  by  law 
the  following  April.  Its  primary  object  is  to  collect  and  preserve, 
in  State  and  county  war  records,  collections,  all  available  material 
relating  to  Minnesota's  part  in  the  war.  The  commission  acts 
through  its  immediate  representatives,  which  include  a  field  agent; 
through  voluntary  county  war  records  committees,  which  have  been 
organized  in  all  parts  of  the  States;  and  with  the  cooperation  of 
other  State  departments  and  organizations,  including  the  American 


248  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Legion.  The  work  of  the  central  body  is  financed  by  the  State  at  th© 
rate  of  $5,000  a  year  during  the  present  biennium,  1919-1921,  while 
the  county  committees  draw  their  support  from  county  boards  and 
other  local  governing  bodies,  which  are  specially  authorized  by  law 
to  appropriate  funds  for  local  war  record  purposes  in  amounts  rang- 
ing from  $250  for  villages  and  $1,000  for  counties  to  $5,000  for  cities 
of  the  first  class. 

One  of  the  commission's  aims  is  to  compile  and  collect  records  of 
the  individual  services  of  all  Minnesota  soldiers,  sailors,  marines, 
Army  welfare  workers,  and  leaders  in  civilian  war  work,  and  to 
duplicate  these  records  so  far  as  possible  in  the  State  and  county 
collections.  For  this  purpose  use  is  made  of  a  series  of  appropriate 
blank  forms,  or  questionnaires.  The  usual  means  are  taken  to  reach 
members  of  the  various  groups  under  canvass,  but  in  the  case  of  the 
largest  group,  the  service  men,  the  commission  has  enjoyed  an  ex- 
ceptional advantage.  In  the  fall  of  1919  the  legislature  granted 
a  cash  bonus  to  these  men  and  created  a  body  known  as  the  soldiers' 
bonus  board  to  raise  and  distribute  the  funds  allowed  for  this  pur- 
pose. At  the  suggestion  of  the  war  records  commission  the  board 
included  the  commission's  military  service  record  form  among  the 
blanks  which  every  applicant  for  the  State  bonus  is  required  to  fill 
out.  As  a  result  the  commission  has  received  through  the  bonus 
board  upward  of  80,000  completed  service  records,  and  there  is  every 
prospect  that  the  arrangement  will  result  in  the  recording  of  rather 
complete  data  on  the  careers  of  most  Minnesota  men  in  the  service. 
In  addition  to  such  formal  statements  of  service,  the  commission 
seeks,  and  in  many  instances  has  obtained,  from  service  men  and 
others  supplementary  material,  such  as  photographs,  letters,  cita- 
tions, and  other  personal  records.  From  a  number  of  individuals 
prominent  in  different  lines  of  activity  the  commission  has  obtained, 
through  personal  solicitation,  private  collections  of  material  which 
is  valuable  not  only  for  its  personal  associations,  but  also  for  its 
contributions  to  various  phases  of  the  history  of  State  and  national 
participation  in  the  war. 

Other  material  acquired  for  the  State  collection  relates  to  the 
history  of  organized  or  group  activities  conducted  on  a  State-wide 
basis  or  otherwise  of  interest  to  the  State  as  a  whole.  Books  and 
printed  matter  assembled  by  the  commission  and  the  historical 
society  include  histories  of  military  units,  county  war  histories,  files 
of  local  newspapers  and  of  camp  and  overseas  publications,  and 
numerous  collections  of  the  printed  and  other  miscellany  which 
formed  a  part  of  the  working  paraphernalia  of  every  prominent  wa^ 
organization.  Another  class  of  material  secured  consists  of  unpub- 
lished reports  and  narrative  accounts  covering  the  work  of  leading 
State  and  local  war  agencies,  including  Minnesota  county  chapters 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  249 

of  the  American  Ked  Cross,  State  and  local  branches  of  the  Food 
Administration,  the  University  of  Minnesota,  and  the  State  branch 
of  the  Fuel  Administration.  In  the  course  of  the  personal  canvass 
which  has  yielded  much  of  the  foregoing  material,  special  efforts 
have  been  made  to  secure  the  custody  of  the  headquarters  files  of 
official  correspondence  and  papers  of  the  various  war  agencies  active 
in  the  State.  Considerable  bodies  of  such  records  have  already  been 
received  from  the  Minnesota  branches  of  national  agencies,  such  as 
the  United  States  Employment  Service,  Woman's  Committee  of  the 
National  Council  of  Defense,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War  Council,  Jewish 
Welfare  Board,  American  Library  Association,  and  War  Camp 
Community  Service;  from  State  agencies,  such  as  the  department  of 
home  economics  of  the  State  agricultural  college  and  the  American- 
ization committee  of  the  Minnesota  Commission  of  Public  Safety; 
from  local  agencies,  such  as  councils  of  home  defense,  Liberty  loan 
committees,  recruiting  agents,  and  Boy  Scouts ;  and  negotiations  for 
other  similar  bodies  of  original  records  are  in  progress-  To  the  col- 
lection of  battlefield  relics,  motion-picture  films,  photographs, 
posters,  and  other  mementoes  of  the  war  period  assembled  in  the 
historical  museum,  the  commission  has  been  able  to  make  notable 
additions. 

The  county  committees  of  the  commission  are  asked  to  collect  the 
war  records  of  their  several  communities  in  accordance  with  sugges- 
tions outlined  in  bulletins  entitled  "A  State-wide  Movement  for  the 
Collection  and  Preservation  of  Minnesota's  War  Records"  and 
"  County  War  History :  Prospectus  and  Guide  to  the  Collection  of  Ma- 
terial," the  latter  being  issued  in  mimeographed  form.  The  work  of 
the  committees  is  directed  for  the  most  part  at  long  range  through  the 
medium  of  these  bulletins  and  of  circular  letters  and  correspondence, 
though  State  workers  have  had  personal  conferences,  either  at  State 
headquarters  or  in  their  home  communities,  with  some  25  of  the  local 
leaders.  Widely  varying  degrees  of  interest  and  efficiency  are  shown 
by  the  local  organizations,  but  it  may  be  stated  that,  taken  as  a  whole, 
the  committees  are  accumulating  considerable  material  of  value,  and 
that  committees  here  and  there  throughout  the  State  will  undoubt- 
edly see  the  work  through.  A  number  of  the  committees  in  rural 
counties  have  obtained  from  their  county  boards  the  legal  maximum 
of  $1,000  and  the  city  of  St.  Paul  has  granted  to  its  county  committee 
the  sum  of  $5,000.  These  committees  and  others  which  have  secured 
smaller  sums  have  their  own  letterheads,  printed  circulars,  and  blank 
forms,  and  a  number  employ  paid  secretaries  or  clerks.  Ten  commit- 
tees have  decided,  upon  their  own  motion,  not  only  to  gather  the 
counties'  war  records,  but  to  prepare  and  publish  county  war  his- 
tories. One  of  the  most  active  committees,  reporting  in  November, 
1919,  had  compiled  complete  lists  of  service  men,  Gold  Star  men,  Red 


250  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Cross  nurses,  and  others  in  war  service  from  the  county;  secured 
service  records  and  photographs  from  about  75  per  cent  of  these  men 
and  women;  collected  group  photographs  of  all  draft  contingents, 
National  Guard  companies,  and  local  war- work  committees;  made 
transcripts  of  practically  all  of  the  records  of  the  local  draft  board 
(except  questionnaires)  before  the  originals  were  sent  to  Washing- 
ton ;  and  assembled  more  or  less  complete  files  of  reports  and  original 
records  representing  the  activities  of  practically  all  the  leading  local 
war  agencies.  All  the  committees  are  encouraged  to  build  up  collec- 
tions of  material  for  preservation  in  the  counties,  and  to  send  in  for 
the  State  collection  such  duplicate  material  as  can  readily  be  secured 
or  provided. 

When  the  State  commission  was  established  as  a  statutory  body  it 
was  directed  not  only  to  collect  material  but  also  "  to  provide  for  the 
preparation  and  publication,  as  a  permanent  memorial  record,  of  a 
comprehensive  documentary  and  narrative  history  of  the  part  played 
by  the  State  in  the  World  War,  including  conditions  and  events 
within  the  State  relating  to  or  affected  by  the  war ;  and  also  for  the 
preparation  and  publication  of  a  condensed  narrative  of  Minnesota's 
part  in  the  war,  suitable  for  distribution  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors 
from  the  State  in  recognition  of  their  services  to  the  Common- 
wealth." A  tentative  plan  for  the  proposed  comprehensive  history, 
previously  submitted  in  a  bulletin  entitled  "  Minnesota's  Part  in  the 
War;  Shall  it  be  Adequately  Recorded?"  contemplated  a  10- volume 
work,  consisting  of  three  volumes  giving  brief  individual  mention  of 
all  service  men  and  leading  civilian  war  workers  of  the  State;  one 
volume  containing  biographical  sketches  and  portraits  of  the  men 
who  lost  their  lives  in  the  service ;  three  volumes  of  important,  typi- 
cal, and  interesting  documents  of  the  period ;  and  three  volumes  pre- 
senting in  a  series  of  historical  narratives  the  story  of  the  State's 
war  service  in  all  its  various  phases.  But  the  realization  of  this,  or 
of  any  other  plan  of  publication  which  the  commission  may  adopt, 
awaits  the  granting  of  more  adequate  funds  by  the  legislature.  In 
the  meantime  the  commission  is  devoting  its  energies  to  the  more  im- 
mediately important  task  of  collecting  material. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

The  following  letter  was  received  from  the  director  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Archives  and  History : 

Jackson,  Miss.,  March  8,  1920. 
Mr.  Newton  D.  Mkreness, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mb.  Mereness  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  appeal  to  the  various  his- 
torical agencies  to  join  you  in  a  cooperative  plan  for  the  preparation  of  an  ac- 
count of  historical  activities  in  the  United  States  during  the  recent  war.     At 
present  all  available  funds  in  this  department  are  used  in  local  historical  work 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  251 

for  the  collection  and  classification  of  materials  relating  to  the  war.    We  wish, 
first,  to  get  all  our  local  material  collected  and  in  shape  before  going  further. 

Regretting  that  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  join  you,  and  with  kind  regard, 
I  am, 

Sincerely,  yours, 

Dunbae  Rowland. 

MISSOURI. 
By  Floyd  C.  Shoemaker,  Secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Missouri. 
Historical  research  for  increasing  the  fund  of  historical  knowl- 
edge regarding  questions  pertaining  to  the  war  was  confined  to 
magazine  and  newspaper  articles,  if  exception  is  made  of  the  volumi- 
nous literature  published  by  State  institutions,  boards,  and  organiza- 
tions of  a  purely  utilitarian  character,  and  if  further  exception  is 
made  in  the  case  of  all  research  that  is  nonhistorical.  By  strict  criti- 
cism exception  might  also  be  well  taken  in  the  case  even  of  news- 
papers, but  such  a  criticism  could  hardly  apply  to  some  of  the  jour- 
nalistic productions.  The  Missouri  Historical  Review,  published 
by  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Missouri,  carried  a  series  of 
articles,  beginning  in  April,  1917,  on  "  Missouri  and  the  War."  This 
series  was  not  concluded  until  July,  1919.  The  articles  were  written 
in  a  popular  style,  but  were  based  upon  historical  research.  They 
summarized  the  questions  pertaining  to  the  war  as  far  as  they  con- 
cerned Missouri,  and  summarized  the  activities  of  Missouri  in  con- 
nection with  these  questions. 

A  large  percentage  of  public-spirited  and  educated  citizens  of  Mis- 
souri contributed  articles  for  publication  in  newspapers  and  periodi- 
cals for  the  diffusion  of  historical  information  necessary  to  en- 
lighten public  opinion  regarding  the  issues  of  the  war.  These 
contributions  were,  however,  not  necessarily  more  extensive  or  valu- 
able than  those  which  appeared  in  the  newspapers  and  periodicals 
of  other  States.  It  was  part  of  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  times  to 
perform  this  service.  The  result  was  thousands  of  contributed 
articles  of  this  character. 

The  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  containing  historical  in- 
formation was  largely  under  the  control  and  direction  of  the  Mis- 
souri Library  Commission  at  Jefferson  City,  acting  through  the  public 
libraries  of  the  State.  The  most  important  agencies  were  the  uni- 
versity library  and  the  large  public  libraries  in  St.  Louis,  Kansas 
City,  and  St.  Joseph.  Special  mention  should  also  be  made  regarding 
this  character  of  work  of  the  five  State  teachers'  college  libraries  and 
also  the  denominational  college  libraries. 

Lectures  on  historical  subjects  were  either  under  the  control  and 
direction  of  patriotic  organizations  or  educational  institutions.  Of 
the  latter,  special  mention  should  be  made  of  the  University  of 
Missouri  and  the  five  State  teachers'  colleges. 


252  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Cooperation  between  the  State  council  of  defense  and  the  State 
Historical  Society  of  Missouri  was  very  close.  It  resulted  in  the  for- 
mer body  placing  all  of  its  correspondence  and  records,  both  public 
and  private,  on  deposit  with  the  historical  society. 

War  histories  under  preparation  during  the  war  relating  to  the 
organization  and  operation  of  different  branches  of  war  service  were 
confined  to  reports  of  State  boards  having  direct  connection  with 
such  service,  such  as  the  Report  of  the  Missouri  Council  of  Defense 
for  1917,  1918,  and  1919,  published  by  the  State  of  Missouri  in  1919, 
and  the  proposed  report  of  Adjutant  General  Harvey  C.  Clark,  State 
of  Missouri,  on  the  complete  roster  of  Missouri  men  in  service. 

The  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records  have  been  under- 
taken by  two  agencies,  the  adjutant  general's  office  in  Jefferson  City 
and  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Missouri,  Columbia.  The  for- 
mer has  confined  its  activities  to  soldier  records,  enlisting  in  this 
work  citizens  in  each  of  the  counties  of  the  State  and  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  and  enlisting  also  the  services  of  the  Missouri  Historical 
Society.  The  State  Historical  Society  of  Missouri  has  confined  its 
activities  to  the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  published  reports 
of  volunteer  organizations,  ephemeral  war  literature,  such  as  posters 
circulars,  etc.,  records  of  Missouri  casualties,  embracing  personal  his- 
tories of  each  casualty,  the  records  of  the  State  council  of  defense, 
and  copies  of  reports  of  State-wide  volunteer  war  organizations. 

There  is  no  work  in  preparation  covering  the  history  of  the  State's 
participation  in  the  war.  This  matter  has,  to  a  large  extent,  been 
met  by  the  articles  which  appeared  in  the  Missouri  Historical  Review 
during  the  progress  of  the  war.  A  number  of  county  histories,  how- 
ever, have  been  produced,  or  are  in  process  of  compilation.  Some  of 
these  are  commercialized  projects;  others  are  genuine  county  war 
histories. 

MONTANA. 

By  Paul  C.  Phillips,  of  the  Department  of  History  and  Political  Science, 
University    of    Montana. 

Historical  activities  in  Montana  in  connection  with  the  war  amount 
to  practically  nothing.  There  was  no  historical  research.  With 
regard  to  the  diffusion  of  historical  information  necessary  to  en- 
lighten public  opinion  there  were  about  the  usual  number  of  ar- 
ticles appearing  in  newspapers.  Most  of  the  articles,  however,  were 
syndicate  matter  and  unsigned.  I  personally  wrote  several  articles 
while  I  was  in  Washington,  and  these  were  published  in  a  number  of 
Montana  newspapers.  The  libraries  furnished  a  good  many  books 
regarding  the  war,  and  a  number  of  people  took  correspondence 
courses  on  subjects  relating  to  the  war.     The  university  extension 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  253 

department  offered  a  number  of  lectures  on  such  topics  as  "  The 
Nations  of  the  War,"  throughout  the  State,  while  the  war  was  going 
on.  The  university  offered  in  the  summer  time  a  special  course  on 
the  historical  background  of  the  war  and  the  war  itself.  The  course 
on  the  historical  background  of  the  war  was  very  similar  to  the 
course  on  war  issues  offered  to  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps. 
Nothing  has  been  done  to  collect  and  preserve  a  record  of  the  war. 

NEBRASKA. 

Information  supplied  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Nebraska  State  Historical  Society. 

The  secretary  of  the  Nebraska  State  Historical  Society  was  over- 
seas during  the  war,  acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  war  correspondent. 
He  brought  home  files  of  European  newspapers,  pamphlets,  war  hand- 
bills and  posters,  and  museum  material.  The  society  has  received 
the  records  of  the  State  council  of  defense  and  is  still  collecting  man- 
uscript and  other  material  for  future  book  publications.  Several 
county  histories  have  already  appeared,  and  two  or  three  of  them 
are  of  real  merit.  An  appropriation  of  $7,000  for  war-record  and 
war-history  work  was  made  by  one  branch  of  the  legislature  in  1919, 
but  was  cut  out  in  conference  committee. 

Nevada. 
By  Jeanne  Wier,  Secretary  of  the  Nevada  Historical  Society. 

1.  Historical  research  and  the  production  of  books  for  increasing 
the  fund  of  historical  knowledge  regarding  questions  pertaining  to 
the  war :  No  publication  of  books ;  some  research  work  conducted  by 
Nevada  Historical  Society. 

2.  The  diffusion  of  historical  information  necessary  to  an  en- 
lightened public  opinion  regarding  the  issues  of  the  war: 

(a)  By  the  contribution  of  articles  for  publication  in  newspapers 
and  periodicals :  "  Why  America  is  in  the  war,"  by  President  Walter 
E.  Clark,  University  of  Nevada ;  "  Who  is  it  that  rules  Germany," 
by  Charles  W.  Spencer,  professor  of  political  science,  University  of 
Nevada;  "What  Germany  wants,"  by  Jeanne  Elizabeth  Wier,  pro- 
fessor of  history,  University  of  Nevada.  All  of  the  above  were 
printed  in  the  Reno  Evening  Gazette,  March  11  to  April  1,  1918. 

(b)  By  promoting  the  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  con- 
taining important  historical  information:  Library  of  the  Nevada 
Historical  Society  containing  war  literature  was  open  to  the  public. 
The  department  of  history  in  the  University  of  Nevada  constantly 
cited  its  students  to  such  articles. 

(c)  By  lectures:  A  series  of  lectures  was  given  by  members  of  the 
university  faculty  at  the  Reno  high  school.  Prof.  Romanzo  Adams 
spoke  on  the  economic  causes  of  the  war  on  March  27,  1918. 


254  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

(d)  By  teaching  in  schools  and  colleges:  The  history  department 
in  cooperation  with  the  economics  department  at  the  University  of 
Nevada  gave  a  three-hour  course  on  war  history,  for  one  semester, 
to  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  Dr.  Romanzo  Adams,  of 
the  economics  department,  gave  one-third  of  the  lectures,  and  Asst. 
Professor  Feemster,  of  the  history  department,  gave  the  remainder. 
Prof.  R.  C.  Thompson  and  Prof.  Jeanne  Elizabeth  Wier  assisted 
with  the  quiz  sections,  and  were  to  have  delivered  the  later  lectures 
of  the  course  had  it  not  been  discontinued  with  the  first  semester. 

3.  Cooperation  with  the  State  council  of  defense,  etc.  The  Nevada 
Historical  Society  acted  as  the  historical  division  of  the  council  of 
defense. 

4.  Preparation  during  the  war  of  histories  of  the  organization 
and  operation  of  different  branches  of  war  service:  Nothing  com- 
pleted though  beginnings  were  made. 

5.  Collection  and  preservation  of  war  records:  Nevada  Historical 
Society  has  gathered  much  material. 

6.  Preparation  for  an  early  history  of  State's  participation  in  the 
War:  The  Nevada  Legislature  of  1919  appropriated  $5,000  for  col- 
lecting and  writing  its  war  history,  and  $2,000  for  the  printing  of 
the  same.  Work  assigned  to  secretary  of  the  Nevada  Historical 
Society,  Jeanne  Elizabeth  Wier. 

NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

This  report  was  prepared  from  a  letter  by  Richard  Wellington  Husband, 
associate  dean,  Dartmouth  College. 

In  August,  1917,  Mr.  R.  W.  Husband  was  appointed  State  war  his- 
torian by  the  New  Hampshire  Committee  on  Public  Safety.  His  duties 
were  twofold:  first,  to  write  a  narrative  of  the  activities  during  the 
war  period  of  the  committee  on  public  safety  and  of  its  eighteen  sub- 
committees ;  second,  to  compile  the  service  record  of  all  persons  of  New 
Hampshire  who  were  in  the  military  or  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States  and  its  allies.  The  first  part  of  the  task  is  completed  and 
ready  for  the  press ;  the  second  is  nearing  completion.  New  Hamp- 
shire had  approximately  23,000  persons  in  the  service,  and  Mr.  Hus- 
band has  succeeded  so  far  in  securing  the  service  record  of  over 
20,000  of  them.  All  material  for  this  record  has  been  collected  by 
voluntary  workers  in  each  town  and  city  of  the  State.  During  the 
war  Mr.  Husband,  on  various  occasions,  published  articles  in  the 
newspapers  and  elsewhere  giving  some  account  of  New  Hampshire's 
progress  in  meeting  its  obligations  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  pub- 
lished an  article  in  the  Granite  Monthly  on  "  The  Wartime  Temper 
of  the  State." 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD   WAR.  255 

The  history  of  the  New  Hampshire  Food  Administration  has  been 
written  by  James  W.  Tucker  and  Prof.  Kichard  Whorisky,  and  is 
an  excellent  record  of  what  was  done  by  Huntley  N.  Spaulding, 
Federal  food  administrator  for  New  Hampshire,  and  his  associates. 

Prof.  Frank  M.  Anderson,  of  Dartmouth  College,  was  commis- 
sioned to  prepare  a  thoroughgoing  account  of  diplomatic  relations 
of  the  United  States  from  about  the  year  1870.  He  accompanied 
the  Peace  Commission  to  Paris  as  expert  advisor  in  American  diplo- 
matic relations. 

The  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  acting  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  State  war  historian,  has  voted  to  apply  to  the  State 
government  for  an  appropriation  necessary  to  secure  possession  of 
all  documents  still  existing  in  the  State  which  tell  of  the  various 
war  activities. 

NEW  MEXICO. 
By  Lansing  B.  Bloom,  Secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Service. 

The  State  Historical  Service  of  New  Mexico,  consisting  of  a  board 
of  three  members,  was  organized  in  August,  1917,  for  the  purpose  of 
gathering  and  compiling  the  war  records  of  the  State.  A  secretary, 
under  salary,  took  charge  of  the  office  October  1,  and  quarters  were 
furnished  by  the  State  museum. 

In  18  of  the  26  counties  representative  men  and  women  accepted 
positions  as  "  county  historians  "  and  some  of  them  have  given  very 
effective  help  to  the  historical  service.  In  other  counties  coopera- 
tion has  been  given  by  units  of  the  Red  Cross  home  service  and  the 
American  Legion  and  by  various  individuals. 

It  was  decided  that  the  historical  service  should  secure,  among 
other  data,  the  records  of  the  men  in  military  service,  and  accordingly 
one  of  the  first  tasks  undertaken  was  to  card-index  every  man  who 
entered  service  from  New  Mexico.  So  far  as  possible  this  was  done 
from  official  sources  of  information,  but  the  data  thus  secured  were 
a  relatively  small  part  of  the  information  gradually  gathered  and 
entered  on  the  records  of  these  men.  Some  sixty  daily  and  weekly 
papers  of  the  State  supplied  their  issues  to  the  historical  service  dur- 
ing the  war-period ;  everything  of  historical  value  was  blue-penciled, 
and  the  papers  were  filed  chronologically  for  preservation  and  for 
reference  as  needed.  The  great  mass  of  data  on  all  lines  of  civilian 
activities  during  the  war  has  not  yet  been  digested,  but  before  the 
papers  were  tiled  every  item  on  the  men  in  miltary  service  was  entered 
on  the  proper  index  card.  As  a  result  the  usual  experience  is  that, 
when  a  former  officer  or  enlisted  man  asks  to  see  his  record  in  the 
archives,  he  is  surprised  at  the  completeness  and  correctness  of  the 
information  already  entered. 


256  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

These  military  records  have  been  further  supplemented,  however, 
by  a  special  record-blank,  printed  in  the  fall  of  1919  and  sent 
out  to  every  man  in  the  index.  Of  these  about  25  per  cent  have 
been  returned  undelivered,  which  corresponds  favorably  with  the 
reported  33  per  cent  which  the  Federal  authorities  have  been  unable 
to  reach  at  their  home  addresses.  Some  4,500  have  been  filled  out 
and  sent  back,  accompanied  by  unmounted  pictures,  and  these  have 
been  filed  individually  in  fireproof  cases.  Original  letters  and  copies 
and  miscellaneous  papers  are  placed  in  their  respective  files.  Many 
of  the  men  have  not  yet  sent  in  their  records,  but  forms  are  con- 
tinually coming  in,  and  it  is  hoped  with  the  cooperation  of  local 
agencies  ultimately  to  have  this  part  of  the  records  very  complete. 

As  soon  as  casualties  were  reported,  correspondence  was  taken  up 
with  relatives  or  friends.  Of  the  456  who  died  in  service,  or  directly 
from  disabilities  incurred  in  service,  pictures  of  398  and  complete 
records  of  nearly  all  are  in  the  archives,  and  the  rest  are  being 
obtained  gradually,  though  in  some  cases  with  great  difficulty  and 
after  long  search.  Copies  of  the  pictures,  in  uniform  size  and  with 
names  in  gummed  lettering,  are  being  placed  in  fixed  frames  under 
glass  on  the  walls  of  the  memorial  room  in  the  old  palace  of  the 
governors,  and  similar  copies  accompanied  by  biographical  sketches 
will  complete  the  "Book  of  Gold,"  which  lies  on  the  table.  Still 
other  copies  have  been  sent  to  the  relatives,  as  well  as  more  than  300 
enlargements  furnished  at  cost.  This  photographic  record  alone 
represents  an  outlay  in  labor  and  materials  of  approximately  $2,000, 
or  an  average  of  $5  for  each  man  of  whom  a  picture  has  been  secured. 
Three  large  tablets  placed  on  the  walls  of  the  memorial  room  show, 
in  six  long  columns,  the  names  and  home  addresses  of  all  who  died 
in  service;  and  a  framed  map,  indicating  the  counties  in  outline, 
shows  by  gold  stars  the  total  that  died  from  each  county.  In  glass 
cases  are  displayed  a  valuable  aggregation  of  war  souvenirs,  includ- 
ing both  loans  and  gifts  to  the  State  museum.  The  number  of  these 
is  steadily  growing,  as  men  who  served  turn  in  documents,  histories 
of  units,  souvenirs,  and  curios  which  they  brought  back  from  the 
front. 

The  value  of  the  State's  war  archives  has  already  been  demon- 
strated repeatedly,  and  a  few  instances  may  be  cited.  Last  summer 
the  father  of  one  who  died  in  service  lost  all  his  possessions  by  fire, 
including  all  records  relating  to  his  son;  but  he  received  from  the 
historical  service  a  transcript  of  the  data  in  the  archives  and  a 
copy  of  the  picture  which  he  had  first  loaned.  Relatives  of  a  Santa 
Fe  county  man  who  died  after  discharge  lost  the  papers  necessary 
to  secure  the  bonus  due  them,  and  the  War  Department  could  not 
locate  his  record.    He  was  found  indexed  in  the  State  office  and  his 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  257 

identity  established.  Lists  and  information  have  been  supplied 
to  various  units  of  the  Red  Cross  home  service,  and  of  the  American 
Legion,  to  the  Federal  Office  for  Vocational  Training,  to  State  and 
county  offices  in  connection  with  tax  exemption. 

Similar  indexes  and  records  of  civilians  and  their  part  in  the 
war  might  be  built  up,  if  an  adequate  office  force  and  the  necessary 
funds  were  provided,  by  digesting  the  great  mass  of  material  already 
in  the  archives  and  by  gathering  in  the  records  now  scattered  all 
over  the  State. 

In  January,  1919,  a  preliminary  history  of  New  Mexico  in  the 
Great  War  was  prepared  in  manuscript,  with  illustrations,  but  a 
combination  of  circumstances  prevented  its  intended  publication. 
Four  chapters,  however,  appear  in  the  1919  Blue  Book. 

The  historical  service,  having  been  left  without  funds  in  January, 
1920,  was  formally  transferred  to  the  State  museum  in  April  of 
that  year. 

NEW  YORK. 

The  information  in  this  report  was  furnished  by  James  Sullivan,  State  Histo- 
rian and  Director  of  the  Division  of  Archives  and  History. 

Several  members  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 
delivered  lectures  in  various  cities  and  villages  of  the  State,  some- 
times under  the  auspices  of  the  local  historical  or  patriotic  societies, 
and  at  other  times  as  agents  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information 
or  in  behalf  of  the  Liberty  loans,  to  make  clear  to  the  people  the 
issues  at  stake.  The  people  chosen  for  this  work  were  naturally 
those  from  the  history  field,  as  it  was  a  work  which  came  in  their 
particular  bailiwick. 

The  Division  of  Archives  and  History,  along  with  the  State  library, 
did  a  considerable  amount  in  the  matter  of  making  selections  of 
books  to  be  distributed  to  the  libraries  throughout  the  State  on 
subjects  pertaining  to  the  World  War.  It  also  undertook  to  dis- 
tribute to  historical  societies  and  others  the  numerous  pamphlets 
which  were  sent  to  it  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Information. 
Exhibitions  were  given  in  the  State  library  at  Albany  and  also  in 
local  libraries  of  this  kind  of  material.  Special  shelves  were  set 
aside  in  the  high  school  and  other  libraries  of  the  State,  and  pam- 
phlets relating  to  the  war  placed  thereon. 

By  means  of  the  University  Bulletin,  which  is  issued  to  all  of  the 
schools  of  New  York  State  twice  a  month,  lists  of  books  and  material 
of  a  patriotic  nature  were  got  together  by  the  division  of  archives 
and  history  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  teachers  for  the  purpose 
of  encouraging  them  to  convey  to  their  pupils  the  full  information 
with  reference  to  the  objects  for  which  the  war  was  being  fought. 
25066°— 23 17 


258  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  division  cooperated  with  the  State  council  of  defense,  and  the 
head  of  it,  at  the  request  of  the  adjutant  general  and  the  governor, 
made  a  tour  in  certain  sections  of  the  State  during  what  was  known 
as  "Wake-up  America  week."  The  division  also  cooperated  with 
the  same  body  and  with  the  Department  of  Justice  of  the  United 
States  in  making  certain  translations  of  correspondence  and  other 
papers  which  were  taken  from  aliens  and  others. 

Within  a  few  days  after  the  declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  circular  letters  were  sent  out  from  the  division  to 
the  110  historical  societies  of  the  State ;  to  all  of  the  750  libraries ;  to 
the  corresponding  number  of  school  libraries;  to  patriotic  societies, 
such  as  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  Sons  of 
the  American  Revolution;  to  chambers  of  commerce;  to  certain  in- 
dividuals ;  and  to  town,  county,  village,  and  city  clerks,  urging  upon 
them  the  extreme  desirability  of  starting  a  collection  of  all  kinds  of 
material  listed  under  categories  similar  to  those  indicated  by  the  Na- 
tional Board  for  Historical  Service.  A  correspondence  was  also  car- 
ried on  with  the  chairmen  of  the  county  councils  of  defense,  sub- 
ordinate branches  of  the  State  council  of  defense,  along  similar  lines. 
Many  of  those  appealed  to  undertook  this  work  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  enthusiasm,  but  very  many  were  so  pressed  with  other 
duties  of  the  war  service  that  very  little  was  done.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  Red  Cross  were  petitioned  to  have  accounts  prepared  of  their 
work  in  New  York  State.  Some  of  this  is  still  underway.  The  ma- 
terial which  has  been  gathered  has  in  some  cases  been  transmitted 
to  the  State  library  for  classification  and  preservation,  and  in  other 
cases  the  local  library,  particularly  when  it  is  in  a  fireproof  building, 
has  retained  the  local  material. 

The  Senate  and  the  Assembly  of  the  State  passed  a  resolution  in 
April,  1919,  calling  upon  the  division  to  prepare  a  history  of  New 
York  State's  participation  in  the  World  War.  To  assist  in  the  col- 
lection of  this  material  the  Legislature  also  passed  a  law  calling  for 
the  appointments  of  local  historians  in  each  political  unit  of  the  State. 
About  50  per  cent  of  these  have  so  far  been  duly  chosen  and  have  been 
set  to  work  to  gather  material  of  interest  for  this  history.  In  some 
localities  the  political  division  has  already  published  the  results  of 
these  investigations ;  the  city  of  Buffalo  may  be  cited  as  an  example. 
In  some  counties — Chautauqua  for  example — there  has  been  under- 
taken a  history  of  the  county's  participation  in  the  World  War  by  a 
commercial  publishing  company.  Similarly  in  some  cities  commer- 
cial agencies  have  undertaken  this  work;  namely,  in  Albany. 

Paragraphs  1198  and  1199  of  the  act  are  as  follows: 

A  local  historian  shall  be  appointed,  as  provided  in  this  section,  for  each 
city,  town,  or  village,  except  a  city  of  over  1,000,000  inhabitants.  Such  local 
historian  shall  be  appointed  as  follows :  For  a  city,  by  the  mayor ;  for  a  town, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  259 

by  the  supervisor;  for  a  village,  by  the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Such  historian  shall  serve  without  compensation,  unless  the  governing  board 
of  the  city,  town,  or  village  for  which  he  or  she  was  appointed,  shall  otherwise 
provide.  In  a  city  having  a  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  a  resolution 
or  ordinance  establishing  compensation  or  salary  for  such  historian  shall  not 
take  effect  without  the  concurrence  of  such  board.  The  local  authorities  of 
the  city,  town,  or  village  for  which  such  historian  is  appointed  may  provide 
the  historian  with  sufficient  space  in  a  safe,  vault,  or  other  fireproof  structure 
for  the  preservation  of  materials  collected. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  local  historian,  appointed  as  provided  in  the  last 
section,  in  cooperation  with  the  State  historian,  to  collect  and  preserve  ma- 
terial relating  to  the  history  of  the  political  subdivision  for  which  he  or  she 
is  appointed,  and  to  file  such  material  in  fireproof  safes  or  vaults  in  the  city, 
town,  or  village  offices.  Such  historian  shall  examine  into  the  condition, 
classification,  and  safety  from  fire  of  the  public  records  of  the  pubic  offices 
of  such  city,  town,  or  village,  and  shall  call  to  the  attention  of  the  local  au- 
thorities and  the  State  historian  any  material  of  local  historic  value  which 
should  be  acquired  for  preservation.  He  or  she  shall  make  an  annual  report, 
in  the  month  of  January  to  the  local  appointing  officer  or  officers  and  to  the 
State  historian  of  the  work  which  has  been  accomplished  during  the  preceding 
year.  He  or  she  shall,  upon  retirement  or  removal  from  office,  turn  over  to 
the  local  city,  town,  or  village  authorities,  or  to  his  successor  in  office,  if  one 
has  been  then  appointed,  all  materials  gathered  during  his  or  her  incumbancy 
and  all  correspondence  relating  thereto.  The  State  historian,  at  regular  in- 
tervals, not  less  than  once  a  year,  shall  indicate  to  the  local  historians  the 
general  lines  along  which  local  history  material  is  to  be  collected. 

So  far  as  this  State  is  concerned  there  seems  to  be  a  disposition 
to  turn  to  the  historians  for  expert  guidance  along  the  lines  indicated 
in  the  questionnaire.  The  historical  and  patriotic  societies  of  the 
State,  under  the  urging  by  the  division,  seemed  to  feel  that  it  was 
their  particular  duty  to  see  that  the  historian  undertook  the  work 
of  conducting  the  publicity  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  make  the  popula- 
tion a  unit  in  its  opinion  about  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Though  this 
was  but  a  natural  line  of  activity,  too  much  tribute  can  not  be  paid  to 
the  work  of  these  bodies  in  placing  before  the  public  the  facts  that 
made  the  people  whole-hearted  in  their  support  of  the  Government. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

By  Robert  Burton  House,  Collector  of  war  records,  North  Carolina  Historical 

Commission. 

During  the  years  1917,  1918,  and  1919  history  exerted  a  vital, 
practical  force  in  North  Carolina,  resulting  in  a  more  intelligent 
and  effective  effort  to  win  the  war  by  the  people  of  the  State  and  in 
a  renewed  and  deepened  appreciation  of  history.  The  study,  teach- 
ing, and  writing  of  history,  and  the  preservation  of  historical  ma- 
terial manifest  a  renewed  and  varied  activity  to-day  because  of  the 
service  rendered  by  history  during  these  years. 


260  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION". 

History  served  both  to  form  opinion  for  war  and  to  conduct  the 
war.  Even  while  it  was  yet  a  European  struggle  the  war  forced 
itself  more  and  more  insistently  on  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
as  a  problem  on  which  to  inform  themselves  and  take  sides.  Neu- 
trality of  opinion  rapidly  became  impossible.  History,  both  past 
and  contemporary,  formed  the  subject  matter  of  their  consideration 
during  this  period  of  forming  opinions.  The  entry  of  the  United 
States  into  the  struggle  found  the  people  enthusiastically  in  support 
of  this  action,  but  unready  for  it.  History  then  became  the  guide  to 
organization  and  action.  Historians  not  only  furnished  historical 
information  to  the  people  of  the  State  as  a  guide  to  action,  but  also 
themselves,  in  many  instances,  directed  action  as  executives.  By 
teaching,  writing,  speaking,  and  doing  specific  pieces  of  war  work 
they  put  both  history  and  historians  squarely  into  the  war. 

Naturally,  therefore,  history  retains  to-day  in  large  measure  the 
interest,  importance,  and  support  which  it  gained  during  the  years 
of  the  war.  A  larger  proportion  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
study  history  now  than  before  the  war.  More  fields  of  historic  in- 
terest are  being  explored  now  than  before  the  war;  and  institutions 
both  for  teaching  and  for  preserving  history  receive  increased 
support. 

Enthusiastic  support  by  them  of  the  war  as  a  national  undertak- 
ing engendered  in  the  people  a  desire  to  know  more  about  America 
as  a  nation,  about  American  national  ideals  in  particular;  for  the 
utter  repudiation  of  opposing  national  ideals  brought  out  a  positive 
assertion  of  our  own.  Study  of  American  national  ideals  led  nat- 
urally to  consideration  of  the  national  ideals  of  the  whole  race  of 
English-speaking  peoples.  Citizens  of  the  State,  both  in  the  schools 
and  colleges,  and  outside  of  them,  formed  clubs  to  study  and  per- 
petuate American  and  British  national  ideals  and  traditions. 

To  furnish  materials  for  this  study  two  books  appeared  through 
the  research  and  industry  of  four  professors  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina:  American  Ideals,  by  Norman  Foerster  and  W.  W. 
Pierson  (Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1917),  and  The  Great 
Tradition,  by  Edwin  Greenlaw  and  J.  H.  Hanford  (Chicago,  Scott, 
1919).  American  Ideals  brings  together  in  one  volume  the  great 
expressions  of  American  national  ideals  from  the  earliest  times  to 
the  present.  The  Great  Tradition  includes  within  one  volume  the 
national  ideals  of  all  English-speaking  people  from  the  earliest 
times  to  the  present.  Supplementing  these  books  and  giving  addi- 
tional vital  information,  the  following  books  appeared  from  the 
pens  of  North  Carolinians  or  in  North  Carolina:  The  Nation  at 
War,  A.  B.  Scherer  (New  York,  Doran,  1918)  ;  Our  War  with  Ger- 
many, J.  S.  Bassett  (New  York,  Knopf,  1919) ;  The  Navy  and  the 
Nation,  War  Time  Addresses,  Josephus  Daniels  (New  York,  Doran, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  261 

1919)  ;  Builders  of  Democracy,  Edwin  Greenlaw  (Chicago,  Scott, 
1918) ;  and  Bulletin  No.  25  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Com- 
mission (Raleigh,  Edwards  &  Broughton,  1919),  a  series  of  papers  on 
Anglo-American  relations  designed  to  be  read  at  Raleigh  at  the 
Tercentenary  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  1918.  The  celebration  of  the 
tercentenary  was  prevented  by  the  influenza  epidemic,  however. 

Because  of  the  rural  nature  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  consequent 
isolation  of  families  and  sections  from  the  currents  of  enthusiasm  and 
information  so  strong  in  more  urban  States,  the  newspaper,  the 
church,  the  school,  the  public  speaker,  and  the  library  were  vital 
factors  in  disseminating  information  and  forming  opinion.  Through 
these  agencies  historians  exerted  their  greatest  influence.  There  is 
not  a  paper,  a  church,  a  school,  or  a  college  in  North  Carolina  that 
did  not  radiate  their  influence.  The  speakers'  bureau  for  the  Liberty 
loans,  publicity  for  chapters  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  other  forms  of 
publicity  service,  were  directed  by  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor,  secretary  of 
the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission.  All  the  colleges  of  the 
State  sent  professors  out  to  speak  on  the  war.  The  University  of 
North  Carolina,  through  its  Bureau  of  Extension,  gave  a  war  infor- 
mation service  of  nation-wide  usefulness.  By  extension  study  cen- 
ters, group  lectures,  correspondence  courses,  single  lectures,  readers' 
service  through  the  library,  and  a  series  of  war  information  leaflets, 
it  reached  every  corner  of  the  State  with  vital  information.  The 
service  rendered  by  the  other  colleges  of  the  State  was  of  a  nature 
similar  to  that  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  but  not  so  ex- 
tensive. Every  library  in  the  State  had  to  expand  its  service  to  meet 
the  unprecedented  demands  for  material  on  the  war.  All  of  the  col- 
lege libraries  sent  out  packets  of  books  and  pamphlets  upon  request. 

The  formal  teaching  of  history  in  those  colleges  maintaining  a 
Students'  Army  Training  Corps  suffered  a  slump,  however,  in  1918. 
The  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  courses  forced  academic  stu- 
dents to  revise  their  regular  courses,  and  because  history  was  one  of 
the  easiest  subjects  to  defer  till  normal  times,  in  practically  all  the 
colleges  of  the  State,  history  was  deferred  in  favor  of  military 
science.  This  slump  in  the  usual  courses  was  compensated  for  in 
some  degree  by  the  large  attendance  on  the  war  issues  and  war  aims 
courses  of  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  Moreover,  all 
academic  classes  expanded  in  some  way  to  include  an  interpretation 
of  the  war.  One  popular  method  was  by  keeping  a  bulletin  board 
of  information.  Since  the  war,  however,  history  seems  to  be  re- 
gaining its  attendance  with  interest.  All  of  the  leading  institutions 
of  North  Carolina  have  modified  their  American  and  modern  Euro- 
pean history  courses  to  interpret  the  war.  And  in  addition  they 
offer  courses  in  contemporary  American  history,  inter-American  re- 
lations, new  diplomacy,  origins  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  American 


262  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

foreign  policy,  causes  and  outcome  of  the  World  War.  There  is 
also  manifested  an  increasing  interest  in  Hispanic-American  his- 
tory. 

The  full  power  of  this  historical  service  was  therefore  behind  the 
State  council  of  defense  and  all  the  war-work  organizations.  Dr. 
D.  H.  Hill,  himself  a  historian,  turned  from  his  work  of  years  (the 
preparation  of  a  history  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Civil  War)  to  di- 
rect the  North  Carolina  Council  of  Defense.  Not  only  did  the  his- 
torians in  the  State  throw  their  influence  behind  the  great  financial 
drives,  but  contributed  largely  to  them  personally  both  in  money 
and  in  direction.  Practically  all  the  colleges  of  the  State  were  100 
per  cent  contributors  to  war  finance  and  war  charity.  Practically 
all  of  them  sent  several  members  of  their  faculties  into  whole-time 
war  work. 

The  concentration  of  the  people  of  the  State  on  action  prevented 
any  great  concentration  on  preparing  histories  of  this  action.  In 
fact,  the  war-savings  stamps  committee  was  the  only  organization 
to  prepare  and  publish  a  history  of  its  activities.  However,  the 
council  of  defense,  food  administration,  fuel  administration,  and 
draft  executives  preserved  completely  their  records.  Likewise  all 
the  colleges  of  the  State  preserved  records  of  their  students,  facul- 
ties, and  alumni  who  were  in  the  service.  The  State  College  for 
Women  also  collected  and  published  information  on  the  contributions 
of  North  Carolina  women  to  the  war. 

The  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission  exerted  a  powerful 
influence  in  preserving  all  forms  of  war  records.  Its  secretary,  Mr. 
R.  D.  W.  Connor,  directed  the  historical  committee  of  the  council 
of  defense.  This  committee  organized  assistants  in  a  majority  of  the 
counties  of  the  State,  and  even  by  the  conclusion  of  the  war  had 
preserved  a  fairly  representative  collection  of  war  records. 

The  work  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission  in  pre- 
serving war  records  was  given  support  by  the  general  assembly  of 
1919,  when  they  authorized  and  directed  the  historical  commission  to 
employ  a  person  not  only  to  continue  collecting  war  records,  but  to 
prepare  from  them  a  History  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Great  World 
War.25  The  work  of  collecting  data  for  this  history  is  now  actively 
progressing. 

NORTH     DAKOTA. 

By  O.  G.  Libby,  President  of  the  North  Dakota  War  History  Commission. 

The  War  History  Commission  of  North  Dakota  was  appointed  by 
Gov.  Frazier  in  1918.  At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1920  the 
State  made  a  small  appropriation  to  assist  the  Commission  in  its 

88  Chapter  144,  Public  Laws,  1919,  sees.  3-5. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  263 

work.  A  plan  has  been  devised  by  Adj.  General  Fraser  for  securing 
the  service  record  of  every  man  in  the  Army  or  Navy  from  North 
Dakota. 

The  commission  has  secured  the  cooperation  of  most  of  the  county 
superintendents  in  collecting  war  material.  A  small  pamphlet  has 
been  prepared  which  will  be  mailed  to  a  selected  list  of  citizens  who 
will  be  asked  to  aid  in  the  collection  and  compilation  of  the  materials 
for  a  State  history  of  the  war. 

OHIO. 

By  C.  B.  Galbreath,  Secretary  of  the  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical 

Society. 

No  definite  information  is  at  hand  regarding  the  contributions  by 
the  history  men  and  women  of  Ohio  toward  the  winning  of  the 
World  War.  The  people  of  Ohio  were,  however,  active  In  seeking 
and  disseminating  information  that  would  lead  to  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  issues  of  the  war.  Clippings  from  newspapers  and 
periodicals  in  the  files  of  the  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  His- 
torical Society  show  that  almost  every  section  of  the  State  con- 
tributed something  toward  the  enlightenment  of  the  community  in 
which  they  circulated  on  the  causes  and  issues  of  the  great  conflict. 

The  library  interests  of  the  State  early  saw  the  opportunity  for 
service  that  came  with  our  entrance  into  the  war,  and  promptly 
took  action  to  supply  books,  newspapers,  and  periodicals  to  the 
various  camps  and  cantonments  in  Ohio.  Before  the  soldiers  ar- 
rived at  Camp  Sherman  a  small  working  library  had  been  estab- 
lished on  the  site  of  that  cantonment,  through  the  cooperation  of  the 
Ohio  State  Library  and  the  public  library  at  Chillicothe,  and  a  sys- 
tem of  operating  it  had  been  carefully  worked  out  by  J.  Howard 
Dice,  library  organizer  of  Ohio;  Burton  E.  Stevenson,  librarian  of 
the  public  library  of  Chillicothe;  and  Miss  Edwina  Glenn,  former 
librarian  of  one  of  the  branch  libraries  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and 
daughter  of  Maj.  Gen.  Glenn  in  command  at  Camp  Sherman. 
Later  Mr.  Dice  entered  the  military  service  and  returned  from 
France  in  July,  1919.  Mr.  Stevenson  continued  in  charge  of  the 
work  at  Camp  Sherman  for  a  time,  and  because  of  the  excellent 
record  that  he  made  here  was  later  sent  to  France  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  American  Library  Association  to  take  charge  of  the 
work  near  the  scene  of  military  operations.  Excellent  work  was 
done  also  at  other  military  posts  in  Ohio,  and  the  soldiers  in  train- 
ing in  this  State,  as  well  as  those  temporarily  within  its  borders  on 
their  way  to  cantonments  in  other  States  or  points  of  debarkation 
on  the  coast,  were  liberally  supplied  with  reading  matter. 


264  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

There  was  much  public  speaking.  In  this  way  every  school  dis- 
trict of  the  State  was  reached.  There  were  addresses  by  the  Four- 
Minute  Men  under  direction  of  the  national  organization  and  volun- 
tary lectures  by  practically  every  man  and  woman  in  the  State  able 
and  willing  to  speak  on  the  war.  There  were,  of  course,  numerous 
addresses  by  distinguished  speakers  from  other  States  and  other 
nations,  and  patriotic  appeals  in  the  Liberty  loan,  war  chest,  and 
other  campaigns.  The  State-supported  universities  and  normal 
schools  were  centers  of  great  activity  and  enthusiasm  in  everything 
pertaining  to  the  war. 

In  February,  1918,  Gov.  Cox  appointed  the  Historical  Commission 
of  Ohio.  This  action  was  purely  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernor, as  there  was  no  legislation  providing  specifically  for  this 
action.  It  had  the  hearty  support,  however,  of  a  number  of  citizens, 
who  realized  the  importance  of  the  work  that  such  an  organization 
might  perform.  The  commission  was  appointed  as  the  official  agency 
of  the  State  for  the  collection  and  preservation  of  records  and  mate- 
rials pertaining  to  Ohio's  part  in  the  present  war.  The  following 
were  designated  as  members  of  the  commission:  Elbert  J.  Benton, 
Western  Reserve  University;  John  E.  Bradford,  Miami  University; 
Glenn  D.  Bradley,  Toledo  University;  Isaac  J.  Cox,  University  of 
Cincinnati;  George  A.  Cribbs,  Mount  Union  College;  Elizabeth 
Crowther,  Western  College  for  Women ;  Martha  L.  Edwards,  Lake 
Erie  College ;  George  C.  Enders,  Defiance  College ;  K.  S.  Latourette, 
Granville;  Thomas  N.  Hoover,  Ohio  University;  Walter  D.  Nis- 
wander,  Ohio  Northern  University ;  William  F.  Peirce,  president  of 
Kenyon  College;  Benjamin  F.  Prince,  Wittenberg  College;  Emilius 
O.  Randall,  secretary  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical 
Society;  A.  S.  Root,  Oberlin  College;  Arthur  M.  Schlesinger,  Ohio 
State  University;  Charles  Snavely,  Otterbein  College;  Richard  T. 
Stevenson,  Ohio  Wesleyan  University ;  John  I.  Stewart,  Muskingum 
College;  Elizabeth  A.  Thompson,  Municipal  University  of  Akron; 
Mary  A.  Young,  Oxford  College  for  Women;  Rev.  Francis  W. 
Howard,  Holy  Rosary  Church,  Columbus,  secretary  general  of  the 
Catholic  Educational  Association  of  the  United  States. 

The  purpose  of  the  commission,  as  specifically  stated,  was  to 
collect  and  preserve  records  and  materials  pertaining  to  the  World 
War.  Prof.  Arthur  M.  Schlesinger,  of  the  Ohio  State  University, 
was  chairman  of  the  commission.  His  report,  bearing  date  of 
October  25,  1918,  is  here  given: 

The  commission  proceeded  at  once  to  effect  a  cooperative  arrangement  with 
the  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical  Society,  according  to  which  the 
headquarters  of  the  commission  were  established  at  the  society's  building,  the 
facilities  of  the  building  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  commission,  and 
an  agreement  was  reached,  with  the  consent  of  the  governor's  office,  that  the 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  265 

collections  of  the  commission  should  be  lodged  in  the  library  of  the  society. 
The  Ohio  State  University  also  cooperated  with  the  commission  to  the  extent 
of  releasing  the  chairman  from  one-half  of  his  teaching  duties  during  the 
second  semester  of  the  year  1917-18  and  of  assisting  in  providing  office  supplier. 
At  the  outset  the  commission  decided  that  it  would  endeavor  to  build  up 
a  great  centralized  collection  of  war  records  of  all  kinds,  civilian  and  mili 
tary,  which  would  represent  the  activities  of  the  people  of  the  State  with 
reference  to  the  present  war.  To  explain  the  scope  of  the  proposed  collection 
a  bulletin  was  published  for  free  distribution  to  every  interested  person. 
Pursuant  to  the  purpose  agreed  upon,  the  work  of  the  commission  during  the 
seven  months  of  its  existence  has  consisted  of  two  phases : 

1.  The  appointment  of  chairman  of  county  branches  of  the  historical  com 
mission.  Up  to  the  present  time  63  county  chairmen  have  been  appointed, 
besides  a  special  representative  in  Camp  Sherman.  It  is  the  business  of  each 
county  chairman  to  collect  the  documents,  reports,  and  other  records  which 
show  how  the  war  has  affected  the  life  of  his  community  in  all  its  aspects. 
This  material  he  is  directed  to  send  to  the  central  office  when  a  sufficient 
amount  had  been  accumulated. 

2.  The  collecting  of  material :  A  vast  amount  of  Ohio's  war  records  has 
already  been  collected  and  tentatively  classified.  A  detailed  enumeration  would 
be  out  of  place  here ;  but  perhaps  it  may  be  in  order  to  submit  a  brief  charac 
terization  of  the  general  classes  of  material. 

(a)  Pictorial  material:  The  pictorial  records  of  the  present  war  are  unique 
as  compared  with  those  of  any  other  war  in  which  the  United  States  has  been 
engaged.  The  commission  has  collected  240  large  paper  posters  and  an  even 
greater  number  of  lithographs,  representing  the  many  phases  of  activity  of  the 
Federal  and  local  governments  and  of  the  nonofficial  war  service  agencies. 
When  proper  supplies  are  obtained  for  the  purpose,  all  the  posters  will  be 
mounted  on  cloth  to  insure  permanent  preservation.  At  the  present  time  63 
of  them  have  been  so  cared  for.  The  R.  E.  Wagner  Co.,  official  photographers 
at  Camp  Sherman,  have  presented  the  commission  with  a  large  collection  of 
exceptionally  fine  panoramic  views  of  the  camp  while  the  Eighty-Third  Division 
was  there.  The  commission  has  acquired  two  sets  of  motion  picture  films, 
one  being  the  six  reel  film  entitled  "  The  Remaking  of  a  Nation."  This  film, 
which  is  more  than  a  mile  in  length,  was  presented  to  Maj.  Gen.  Edwin  F. 
Glenn  and  depicts  a  draftee's  life  at  Camp  Sherman  from  the  time  of  his  first 
arrival  until  he  is  turned  out  a  finished  product.  Another  item  of  interest  is 
an  autographed  photograph  of  our  war  President,  Woodrow  Wilson. 

(&)  Printed  material:  The  printed  records  of  Ohio's  part  in  the  war  are  of 
many  kinds  and  only  a  few  classes  can  be  mentioned  here.  The  commission 
is  receiving  139  newspapers  representing  most  of  the  counties  in  the  State. 
The  newspapers  of  certain  of  the  leading  counties  are  being  bound  up,  and 
those  from  the  rural  counties  are  being  clipped  for  all  references  to  local  war 
activities  and  the  clippings  placed  in  scientifically  planned  scrapbooks.  In  ad- 
dition to  newspapers  of  the  ordinary  kind  the  commission  has  made  a  special 
effort  to  gather  newspapers  and  magazines  printed  in  camps  and  elsewhere 
wherever  Ohio  soldiers  are  to  be  found  in  large  numbers.  Besides  possessing 
one  of  the  few  absolutely  complete  files  of  the  Camp  Sherman  News,  the 
commission  has  files  of  two  other  papers  from  Camp  Sherman,  four  papers 
from  Camp  Sheridan,  three  from  Wright  Field,  the  Ohio  Rainbow  Reveille 
printed  "  somewhere  in  France,"  and  other  papers  of  a  similar  character. 

The  many  war  service  instrumentalities  which  have  sprung  into  existence 
to  meet  the  needs  created  by  the  war  have  also  been  responsible  for  a  large 
crop  of  printed  periodicals  and  mimeographed  publicity  matter.     As  an  ex- 


266  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

ample  of  such  printed  periodicals  the  commission  has  files  of  the  Ohio  Food 
Bulletin,  the  Lake  Division  News,  and  the  Central  Liberty  Loan  Committee 
Bulletin  (Cleveland).  With  reference  to  publicity  material  the  commission 
has  established  points  of  contact  with  practically  every  governmental  or  non- 
governmental war  agency  in  operation  in  Ohio  and  is  receiving  regularly  all 
literature  prepared  for  the  use  of  newspapers,  as  well  as  other  publications 
issued. 

In  order  to  have  a  record  of  how  the  war  has  affected  the  religious  and 
industrial  life  of  the  people  the  commission  is  receiving  a  fairly  complete  list 
of  the  religious  periodicals  of  Ohio  and  also  a  representative  list  of  chamber 
of  commerce  publications,  labor  newspapers,  agricultural  periodicals,  trade 
papers,  and  house  (industrial  corporation)  organs.  The  collection  of  the  com- 
mission contains  much  other  printed  material  of  a  varied  character  which 
reflects  religious  and  economic  activities  within  the  State  in  their  relationship 
to  the  war. 

The  racial  contributions  of  Ohio  to  the  war  are  represented  by  collections 
of  German,  Slavonic,  Rumanian,  and  Negro  newspapers.  Under  the  supervi- 
sion of  Mr.  Carl  Wittke,  of  the  Ohio  State  University,  all  references  to  Ger- 
man-American activities  and  opinions  in  connection  with  the  war  have  been 
clipped  and  mounted  in  scrapbooks;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this 
series  of  books  will  hold  a  unique  value  for  future  students  of  history.  One 
product  of  the  activity  of  the  commission  along  this  line  has  been  the  gift 
by  Mrs.  Bertha  H.  Krauss,  Maj.  Gustav  Hirsch,  and  Mr.  Ralph  Hirsch,  of 
Columbus,  of  260  bound  volumes  of  the  Express  and  Westbote,  covering  the 
important  historical  period  from  1843  down  to  the  present  time.  Through  the 
agency  of  the  Federal  authorities  in  the  State  the  commission  has  obtained  a 
number  of  interesting  examples  of  antiwar  propaganda  used  in  Ohio. 

(c)  Written  records :  The  commission  has  the  substantial  nucleus  of  a  col- 
lection of  soldiers'  letters  and  diaries,  the  most  important  acquisition  being  a 
collection  of  several  hundred  letters  received  by  Prof.  Wendell  Paddock,  of 
the  Ohio  State  University,  from  former  students  in  many  branches  of  the 
service.  The  commission  also  possesses  a  number  of  patriotic  addresses  in 
written  or  typed  form,  and  also  some  accounts  written  by  public  officials  of 
their  activity  in  war  service;  such  as,  for  instance,  the  account  of  the  fuel 
crisis  in  Ohio  during  the  winter  of  1917-1918,  written  by  Mr.  E.  D.  Leach, 
former  assistant  State  fuel  administrator. 

(d)  Emblematical  material:  This  portion  of  the  collection  consists  of  badges 
and  buttons  representative  of  the  many  branches  of  war  service  carried  on 
in  the  State,  of  medals  presented  by  counties  and  municipalities  for  patriotic 
service,  and  of  banners  and  flags  symbolic  of  wartime  celebrations  or  patriotic 
achievement. 

(e)  Relics:  The  commission  has  made  little  progress  in  the  collection  of 
relics  of  the  European  battle  fields,  believing  that  this  is  a  function  which 
can  be  better  performed  by  the  curator  of  the  Museum.  However,  the  com- 
mission has  encouraged  the  collection  of  relics  and  expects  to  cooperate  in  every 
way  with  the  curator  in  this  work. 

However  tedious  the  foregoing  enumeration  may  have  seemed,  I  desire  to 
state  again  that  it  is  merely  suggestive  of  the  work  performed  and  is  in  no 
sense  a  complete  statement  of  it.  Surely  enough  has  been  said  to  suggest  the 
vast  possibilities  of  the  work  in  which  the  historical  commission  is  engaged  and 
the  solemn  responsibility  which  rests  upon  the  State  of  Ohio  to  collect  war 
records  which  will  show  our  American  boys  overseas  that  their  splendid  work 
is  being  appreciated  now  and  being  commemorated  for  all  time  to  come.  Ohio 
has  neglected  this  work  in  the  case  of  former  wars ;  she  is  one  of  the  foremost 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  267 

States  in  this  work  now  and  will  have  no  excuse  for  not  carrying  it  through 
properly. 

Those  of  you  who  are  skillful  in  reading  between  lines  have  already  guessed 
that  such  progress  as  the  historical  commission  has  already  made  would  have 
been  impossible  without  the  material  assistance  and  wise  counsel  given  to  the 
commission  through  the  good  offices  of  the  secretary  of  the  Ohio  State  Archaeo- 
logical and  Historical  Society,  Dr.  E.  O.  Randall.  Such  financial  aid  was  in- 
dispensable in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  historical  commission  was  created 
between  sessions  of  the  general  assembly.  To  Dr.  Randall,  the  commission  and 
the  interests  represented  by  the  commission  can  uot  be  too  grateful.  How- 
ever, it  should  be  evident  that  the  historical  commission  can  not  properly  ac- 
complish the  purposes  for  which  it  was  created  without  funds  of  its  own ; 
and  as  an  affiliated  branch  of  the  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical 
Society,  I  believe  that  the  society  will  wish  to  see  that  generous  provision 
is  made  by  the  general  assembly  for  the  performance  of  this  work. 

In  1919  Prof.  Schlesinger  resigned  to  accept  a  position  at  the  head 
of  the  department  of  American  history  in  the  University  of  Iowa. 
In  his  absence  the  work  was  taken  up  by  W.  Ferrand  Felch.  On 
August  26,  1919,  Mr.  Felch  made  a  report  to  the  Ohio  State  Archaeo- 
logical and  Historical  Society  which  is  summarized  as  follows: 

The  writer  of  this  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  archives  of  the  Historical 
Commission  of  Ohio  has  been  in  the  office  as  executive  secretary  of  the  com- 
mission for  only  two  short  months,  and  can  not,  therefore,  give  anything  more 
than  a  cursory  and  insufficient  report  of  the  work. 

Owing  to  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Arthur  M.  Schlesinger,  the  duties  thereof 
have  devolved  upon  the  acting  chairman,  Dr.  E.  O.  Randall,  from  whom  a  full 
report  can  be  expected  at  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  historical  commission  was  appointed  by  Gov.  James  M.  Cox  in  Febru- 
ary, 1918.  The  members  designated  to  conduct  its  work  were,  in  the  main,  the 
leading  historical  professors  of  all  the  colleges  and  universities  of  the  State. 
This  commission  has  since  been  augmented  by  the  appointment  of  a  series  of 
county  chairmen,  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the  State  chairman,  to 
gather  all  available  material  in  the  counties  that  might  otherwise  be  thrown 
away. 

The  complete  and  satisfactory  history  of  any  county's  participation  in  the 
war  can  be  printed  only  after  it  has  been  edited  or  largely  compiled  from  the 
archives  of  the  State  commission. 

It  was  my  first  impression,  and  Dr.  Schlesinger's  that  the  archaeological 
museum  will  become  in  time  the  Mecca  for  county  historians,  or,  as  he 
phrased  it,  a  "  laboratory  "  for  scientific  historical  research,  experiment,  syn- 
thesis, and  exploitation — forever. 

We  are  still  receiving  papers  from  67  of  the  88  Ohio  counties,  in  many 
cases  two  or  three  papers  from  a  county,  making  about  150  papers  in  all. 
Scrapbooks  are  being  formed  steadily,  by  daily  accretion.  Ten  are  on  the 
shelves;  16  are  ready  for  the  bindery,  and  10  more  partially  filled  out  to  the 
requisite  average  of  200  pages  to  a  volume.  We  receive  a  goodly  number  or 
German  newspapers,  which  are  read  and  edited  for  our  scrapbook  collection  by 
Proi  Wittke,  of  the  historical  department  of  the  university,  who  is  also  the 
representative  in  the  business  of  accumulating  the  data  for  this  commission  In 
FranKlin  County.  We  have  also  a  number  of  Slavonic  newspapers,  Rumanian, 
Bohemian,  Polish,  and  other  languages,  published  in  Ohio — at  Cleveland,  Cin- 
cinnati,  and   Youngstown   principally;    and   we   are   still   receiving,   also,   all 


268  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

forms  of  blanks,  press  releases,  printed  and  regulated  forms,  from  the  United 
States  Government  and  State  bureaus  of  governmental  activity,  which  are  yet 
in  use. 

It  appears  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Felch  that  21  counties  of  Ohio 
are  not  represented  in  the  material  collected  and  preserved  in  the 
Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical  Society.  It  is  the  pur- 
pose of  the  secretary  of  the  society  at  an  early  date  to  make  an 
effort  to  collect  newspapers  and  newspaper  accounts  relating  to  the 
war  from  each  of  these  21  counties.  This  will  be  much  more  diffi- 
cult now  than  it  would  have  been  2  years  ago,  but  not  so  difficult 
as  it  will  be  8  or  10  years  hence ;  and  the  matter  is  of  such  importance 
that  effort  and  expense  should  not  be  spared  to  make  the  newspaper 
record  for  the  State  complete. 

Prof.  Carl  Wittke,  instructor  in  American  history,  of  Ohio  State 
University,  has  critically  examined  the  collection  of  German  papers 
and  clippings  made  from  the  same  by  himself  for  the  commission,  and 
has  published  an  interesting  monograph  entitled  "  Ohio's  German- 
Language  Press  and  the  Peace  Negotiations  "  in  the  January,  1920, 
number  of  the  Ohio  Archaeological  and  Historical  Quarterly.  It 
has  also  been  issued  in  separate  form.  In  this  connection  it  is  proper 
to  note  that  Prof.  Schlesinger  has  contributed  an  excellent  article  to 
the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Keview,  December,  1919,  entitled 
"The  Khaki  Journalists,  1917-1919." 

A  few  histories  of  military  units  from  Ohio  have  already  been 
published.  Some  of  these  are  a  credit  to  the  authors,  while  others 
are  a  little  like  certain  county  histories,  projected  not  so  much  for 
the  purpose  of  faithfully  portraying  the  service  of  the  military 
organization  as  for  extracting  money  from  soldiers  and  their  civilian 
friends.  Some  historian,  or  organization  of  historians,  could 
probably  at  this  time  render  a  substantial  service  by  preparing  a 
statement  in  circular  or  pamphlet  form,  designed  to  guide  those 
writing,  or  contemplating  the  preparation  of  histories  of  the  various 
military  organizations  that  participated  in  the  World  War. 

At  present  there  is  a  project  underway  for  the  preparation  of 
a  history  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Division,  made  up  almost  entirely 
of  Ohio  soldiers,  by  cooperation  of  the  Ohio  State  Archaeological 
and  Historical  Society  and  a  committee  on  history  appointed  by 
representatives  of  the  division.  A  similar  plan  is  suggested  for  a 
history  of  the  Eighty-third  Division,  which  was  organized  and 
trained  at  Camp  Sherman.  It  is  too  early  to  make  any  definite  pre- 
dictions m  regard  to  the  outcome  of  these  plans,  but  the  prospect 
is  promising. 

The  historical  commission  is  taking  up  and  hopes  soon  to  press 
with  vigor  a  systematic  collection  of  narratives  from  Ohio  soldiers 
who  rendered  distinguished  service  in  the  war.    Two  instances  will 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE   WORLD  WAB.  269 

illustrate :  A  small  number  of  Ohio  men  were  with  the  little  handful 
of  American  engineers  under  Gen.  Carey  when  his  "  scratch  "  army 
halted  the  advance  of  the  great  German  drive  before  the  gates  of 
Amiens.  At  least  two  of  these  Ohioans  were  killed  and  a  surviving 
comrade  is  writing  for  the  society  an  account  of  this  action  as  he 
saw  it.  A  number  of  Ohio  soldiers  were  with  the  first  troops  that 
marched  through  London,  August  15,  1917.  Some  of  these  will  give 
their  impressions  of  this  historic  march.  They  were  the  first  foreign 
troops  that  had  marched  through  that  city  since  the  days  of  William 
the  Conqueror  in  1066. 

RHODE    ISLAND. 

By  St.  George  L.  Sioussat,  Brown  University,  with  the  cooperation  of  H.  W. 
Chapin,  Librarian,  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  and  H.  O.  Bbigham, 
State  Librarian. 

I.  Historical  research  and  the  production  of  books  for  increasing 
the  fund  of  historical  knowledge  regarding  questions  pertaining  to 
the  war. 

Answer.  No  special  lines  of  historical  research,  and  there  have 
been  no  books  pertaining  to  the  war,  except  as  hereinafter  noted. 

Prof.  Theodore  Collier,  of  Brown  University,  prepared  and  pub- 
lished in  Paris  (1919)  "A  New  World  in  the  Making:  Constructive 
Studies  in  the  Issues  of  the  War,  for  the  use  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
American  Expeditionary  Forces" 

Prof.  St.  George  L.  Sioussat,  of  Brown  University,  contributed  to 
the  "  War  Cyclopedia,"  published  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Infor- 
mation. 

II.  The  diffusion  of  historical  information  necessary  to  an  enlight- 
ened public  opinion  regarding  the  issues  of  the  war:  (a)  By  the 
contribution  of  articles  for  publication  in  newspapers  and  periodi- 
cals; (b)  by  promoting  the  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  con- 
taining important  historical  information;  (c)  by  lectures;  (d)  by 
teaching  in  schools  and  colleges. 

(a)  There  appears  to  be  no  record  of  organised  effort  directed 
toward  the  end  indicated.  Prof.  St.  George  L.  Sioussat,  of  Brown 
University,  contributed  to  the  History  Teacher's  Magazine  for  Octo- 
ber, 1917,  a  brief  article,  "  English  Foundations  of  American  Insti- 
tutional Life." 

(b)  No  such  activities  recorded,  except  that  collections  of  books  on 
the  war  and  its  historical  phases  were  made  at  the  Providence  Public 
Library,  Brown  University,  and  the  Providence  Atheneum. 

(c)  In  addition  to  lectures  which  might  incidentally  have  an  his- 
torical bearing,  which  were  given  under  the  authority  of  the  col- 
leges, the  chamber  of  commerce,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Bureau  of 
Public  Information,  and  other  such  agencies,  definitely  organized 


270  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

lectures  upon  the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  relation  to  it  of  the 
United  States  were  given  at  some  of  the  training  camps  of  the  Army, 
the  Navy,  and  the  Merchant  Marine,  in  and  near  Boston,  by  Prof. 
Sioussat,  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  New  England  group  for 
historical  service.  Prof.  Collier  gave  lectures  of  similar  character 
in  Rhode  Island  and  later  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  service  overseas  devoted 
much  time  to  lectures  to  the  men  in  the  American  Expeditionary 
Force. 

(d)  The  course  upon  the  issues  of  the  war,  planned  by  a  com- 
mittee under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  War  Department,  was 
given  at  the  Rhode  Island  State  College,  in  the  summer  of  1918,  to 
the  Training  Detachment,  Mechanics'  Unit,  by  President  Howard 
Edwards ;  also,  in  connection  with  the  Student  Army  Training  Corps, 
this  course  was  given  from  October  to  December,  1918,  by  President 
Edwards  and  Prof.  Churchill. 

In  Brown  University  the  war  issues  course  was  given,  in  the  sum- 
mer, by  J.  M.  Gathany.  In  the  first  third  of  the  college  year 
1918-1919,  in  connection  with  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps,  the 
management  of  the  course  upon  the  issues  of  the  war  was  placed  in 
the  care  of  a  committee  consisting  of  Prof.  H.  B.  Gardner,  W.  G. 
Everett,  and  St.  George  L.  Sioussat.  The  lectures  in  the  course  were 
given  by  Prof.  Sioussat,  with  a  final  lecture  by  President  W.  H.  P. 
Faunce;  and  a  number  of  quiz  sections  were  conducted  by  Profs. 
Harkness,  Gardner,  Fowler,  Benedict,  Griffith,  and  Drs.  Hansen  and 
Bratcher,  in  cooperation  with  Prof.  Sioussat. 

III.  Cooperation  with  the  State  council  of  defense,  cooperation 
with  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service,  cooperation  with 
the  National  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  in  the 
negotiation  of  peace. 

Apparently  no  such  service  is  recorded  as  rendered  by  men  de 
voted  to  the  historical  profession,  other  than  the  service  overseas  of 
Prof.  Collier  and  the  war-camp  lectures  of  Prof.  Sioussat,  to  which 
reference  is  made  elsewhere.  In  1919  Dr.  K.  K.  Smith,  assistant 
professor  of  Greek  literature  and  history  in  Brown  University,  spent 
several  months  in  Greece  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work. 

IV.  Preparation  during  the  progress  of  the  war  of  histories  of  the 
organization  and  operation  of  different  branches  of  war  service ;  for 
example,  State  and  county  food  administrations. 

Answer.  S.  Ashley  Gibson,  city  editor  of  the  Providence  Journal, 
has  prepared,  at  the  request  of  Gov.  E.  Livingston  Beeckman,  a  brief 
history  of  the  State  council  of  defense  in  relation  to  the  war,  with 
short  sketches  of  the  different  branches  of  war  activities.  In  addition, 
the  following  sketches  exist  in  manuscript:  Herbert  O.  Brigham, 
"  History  of  the  Food  Administration  " ;  J.  Taylor  Wilson,  "  History 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  271 

of  the  Food  Administration " ;  Mrs.  Albert  D.  Mead,  "  History  of 
the  Woman's  Committee." 

Of  material  already  in  print  may  be  cited  the  Yearbooks  of  the 
Providence  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  1917  and  1918-19,  in  which  are 
included  reports  of  the  committee  of  one  hundred  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce  and  the  war  council  of  the  Providence  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce.    These  are  very  informal. 

A  selective  service  manual  was  issued  by  the  director  of  selective 
service.  There  may  be  noted  also  the  publication  entitled  "  Roll  of 
Honor,  Ward  Eight,"  compiled  under  the  direction  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Eighth  Ward  Republican  Club. 

Statements  of  the  service  of  the  officers  and  students  of  Brown 
University  and  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  College  are  included  in 
the  printed  annual  reports  of  the  presidents  of  the  respective  in- 
stitutions. These  reports  contain  also  an  interesting  record  of  the 
changes  in  the  organization  of  the  work  of  these  institutions  which 
were  brought  about  to  meet  war  conditions. 

Rhode  Island  State  College  has  published  a  brochure,  "Rhode 
Island  State  College  to  Her  Sons,  1917-1919."  This  contains  an 
honor  roll  of  "  Our  hallowed  dead,"  and  a  list  of  "  Our  living  heroes." 

Brown  University  has  published  "  Brown  University  in  the  War : 
A  Report  of  the  War  Records  Committee"  (Providence, May,  1919). 
This  comprises  the  "  Brown  Honor  Roll :  Biographical  Sketches  of 
Forty-two  Brown  Men  who  died  in  Military  or  Naval  'Service";  a 
"  Directory  of  Military  Service,"  which  is  intended  to  give  the  names 
of  all  men  in  all  branches  of  service,  and  an  article,  "  Brown  Uni- 
versity in  the  War,"  by  Prof.  J.  Q.  Dealey.  Other  publications  of 
Brown  University  are  a  leaflet, "  Brown  in  the  War  "  (August,  1918)  ; 
"  Information  in  Regard  to  the  Military  and  Naval  Courses  to  be 
Offered  during  the  Academic  Year  1918-19  at  Brown  University" 
(September,  1918) ;  "Bulletin  of  Brown  University,  Reorganization 
of  the  Curriculum  for  the  Period  of  the  War"  (October,  1918). 

Commendably  full  accounts  of  the  activities  of  the  National  So- 
ciety of  the  Colonial  Dames  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Provi- 
dence Plantations  are  found  in  the  annual  year  books  of  the  society 
(1915-16,  1917,  1918,  1919).  Besides  supporting  many  phases  of 
Red  Cross  and  other  relief  work  and  the  various  drives,  the  society 
in  1917  prepared  and  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
a  protest  against  the  German  deportations  in  Belgium,  and  in  1919 
contributed  to  the  Red  Cross  a  motor  ambulance  with  kitchen  trailer. 

In  the  annual  reports  of  the  Rhode  Island  Hospital  is  summarized 
the  work  of  one  of  the  chief  agencies  of  Rhode  Island's  contribution 
to  the  medical  side  of  the  war,  both  as  to  personnel  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  services.  Especially  to  be  noted  is  the  record  of  the 
organization  of  naval  base  unit  No.  4,  organized  in  connection  with 


272  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 


this  hospital.    The  Halifax  disaster  was  the  occasion  for  the  organ 
ization  of  an  emergency  relief  corps. 

The  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  other  societies,  churches, 
and  civic  bodies  have  taken  part  in  exercises  of  a  character  partly 
historical,  in  connection  with  national  holidays,  school  celebrations, 
Americanization  courses,  etc.  These  events  could  be  traced  by  the 
clippings  elsewhere  mentioned,  but  no  systematic  attempt  to  compile 
a  general  record  appears  to  have  been  made. 

V.  The  collection  and  preservation  of  war  records. 

Answer.  The  service  records  have  been  transferred  to  the  custody 
of  the  War  Department  at  Washington.  The  soldiers'  and  sailors' 
information  bureau  have  maintained  a  card  file  of  questionnaires, 
and  the  soldiers'  bonus  board  have  now  in  preparation  a  card  record 
based  upon  the  statements  made  in  discharge  papers.  Secondary 
war  records  have  been  kept  as  follows :  Photographs  and  illustrative 
material  were  collected  by  the  soldiers'  and  sailors'  information 
bureau  and  transferred  to  the  custody  of  the  State  librarian.  Mov- 
ing-picture films  illustrating  certain  phases  of  the  local  activities 
have  been  deposited  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  Papers 
of  the  Americanization  committee  have  also  been  deposited  with  the 
society.  The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  has  confined  its  poster 
collection  entirely  to  those  issued  in  Rhode  Island,  of  which  there 
have  been  a  limited  number. 

During  the  war  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  clipped  all 
the  items  in  the  Providence  Journal  dealing  with  the  part  played  by 
Rhode  Island  and  Rhode  Islanders  in  the  Great  War,  including  the 
activities  in  Rhode  Island  and  beyond  its  borders.  These  clippings 
have  been  mounted  chronologically  in  a  series  of  scrapbooks. 

The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  also  began  to  make  extracts 
of  historical  material  which  was  contained  in  letters  from  boys  at 
the  front.  These  extracts  were  typewritten,  arranged  by  subjects, 
and  mounted  in  scrapbooks.  Owing  to  the  vast  amount  of  letters 
this  work  was  by  no  means  exhausted,  and  has  been  discontinued  on 
account  of  lack  of  funds. 

The  soldiers'  and  sailors'  information  bureau,  operated  by  the 
director  of  the  draft,  maintained  a  clipping  file,  which  was  placed 
in  the  custody  of  the  State  librarian. 

On  the  day  the  United  States  declared  war  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society  issued  an  illustrated  broadside  containing  a  picture 
of  the  Hessian  sword  captured  by  Americans  on  Rhode  Island  in 
1778.  This  sword  was  placed  on  exhibit  in  the  portrait  gallery  of  the 
society  during  the  war  and  labeled  "A  Trophy  Captured  from  the 
Germans  by  Americans  in  1.778."  The  other  side  of  the  case  was  left 
vacant,  with  a  card  stating  that  the  space  was  reserved  for  trophies 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  273 

captured  from  the  Germans  in  the  present  war.  Later  this  was  filled 
with  such  trophies. 

VI.  Preparation  for  an  early  history  of  the  State's  participation 
in  the  war.  Under  this  head  it  may  be  quite  worth  while  in  some 
States  to  contrast  the  so-called  county  history,  produced  primarily 
for  the  purpose  of  extracting  the  largest  possible  sum  of  money  from 
the  county,  with  the  genuine  county  history  prepared  by  a  person 
with  some  historical  training  and  for  a  much  lower  price : 

Answer.  There  has  already  been  published  "  Battery  A,  One  hun- 
dred and  third  Field  Artillery  in  France"  (an  organization  largely 
composed  of  Ehode  Island  men).  Similar  publications  are  in  com- 
pilation by  Battery  B  and  Battery  C,  One  hundred  and  third  Field 
Artillery. 

There  are  no  plans  for  an  early  history  of  the  State's  participation 
in  the  war  except  as  stated  above. 

"  The  Providence  Journal  Almanac  "  for  the  years  1918,  1919,  and 
1920  has  numerous  articles  concerning  the  activities  of  Ehode  Island 
war  relief  organizations,  State's  welcome  to  returned  service  men, 
Rhode  Island  honor  men  in  the  World  War ;  also  list  of  events  local 
to  Rhode  Island. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

This  report  was  prepared  from  a  letter  by  A.    S.  S alley,  Jr.,  Secretary,  His- 
torical Commission  of  South  Carolina. 

The  history  men  of  South  Carolina  seem  to  have  nothing  to 
report  regarding  their  contributions  toward  the  winning  of  the  war. 
There  was  no  special  war  program  for  teaching  history  in  the 
schools  and  colleges.  There  was  also  no  collecting  of  records  during 
the  war,  there  being  no  one  to  collect,  no  money  to  use  for  that 
purpose,  and  no  place  in  which  to  keep  the  records  if  they  had  been 
collected.  It  is  reported  as  not  known  whether  the  council  of 
defense  saved  its  records  or  not.  "  Those  who  did  things,"  we  are 
told,  "  seemed  to  think  it  would  never  be  necessary  to  tell  anybody 
what  was  accomplished."  However,  in  1919  the  general  assembly 
appropriated  $500,000  for  the  erection  of  a  building  as  a  memorial 
chapel  to  South  Carolina  soldiers  in  the  war.  This  building  is  to 
house  the  historical  department  of  the  State,  which  is  expected  to 
gather  materials  relating  to  South  Carolina's  part  in  the  war. 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

Contributions  by  the  history  men  of  South  Dakota  toward  the 

winning  of  the  war  consisted  mainly  of  addresses  and  the  war-aims 

course  to  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps.    The  legislature  has 

provided  for  a  State  historical  commission,  to  consist  of  the  gov- 

25066°— 23 18 


274 


AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


ernor,  adjutant  general,  and  three  members  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor.  The  adjutant  general  is  to  have  personal  supervision  of 
the  work;  a  historian,  appointed  by  the  commission,  is  to  have 
charge  of  the  details.  An  enumeration  of  all  service  men  is  to  be 
made  by  assessors  on  blanks  provided  by  the  adjutant  general. 
County  superintendents  of  schools  and  the  teachers  of  the  State 
have  also  been  asked  to  assist  in  this  matter.  The  department  of 
history  has  in  preparation  reports  of  activities  of  several  war 
agencies.  A  number  of  county  histories  have  been  published  by 
private  enterprise  and  others  are  in  preparation. 


TENNESSEE. 


This  report  was  prepared  from  a  letter  by  John  Tbotwood  Moore,  Director  of 
the  Department  of  Library,  Archives,  and  History,  State  of  Tennessee. 

The  Department  of  Library,  Archives,  and  History  is  actively  en- 
gaged in  collecting  the  individual  records  of  Tennessee  soldiers, 
sailors,  airmen,  and  marines  in  the  World  War.  For  this  purpose 
the  State  is  thoroughly  organized  in  each  of  the  96  counties.  There 
is  a  county  mother  chairman,  with  subchairmen  in  each  civil  district, 
collecting  individual  records,  original  letters,  and  trophies.  The 
records  are  to  be  housed  in  a  memorial  hall,  for  the  erection  of  which 
the  legislature  has  appropriated  the  sum  of  $2,000,000. 

For  the  publication  of  war  history  there  is  the  Tennessee  His- 
torical Committee  of  25  members  appointed  by  the  governor.  They 
are  now  actively  at  work  under  various  subheads  collecting  and 
publishing  all  of  Tennessee's  war  history  from  the  organization  of 
the  State  to  the  present  time.  A  few  volumes  have  already  been 
published. 

TEXAS. 

By  Milton  R.  Gutsch,  Director,  Texas  War  Records,  University  of  Texas. 

The  declaration  of  war  against  Germany  and  the  passage  of  the 
draft  law  caused  so  much  confusion  in  the  organization  of  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  State  of  Texas  that  relatively  little 
time  could  be  devoted  to  research  and  production  in  the  field  of 
causes  of  the  conflict.  Nevertheless,  a  great  deal  was  accomplished 
in  the  diffusion  of  historical  information  relating  to  the  war  issues 
for  the  purpose  of  instructing  the  public  and  establishing  an  enlight- 
ened public  opinion.  Articles  were  prepared  by  the  faculties  of  the 
University  of  Texas  and  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
of  Texas  for  publication  by  the  State  press.  The  Texas  History 
Teachers'  Bulletin  of  May  15,  1918,  published  by  the  history  staff 
of  the  University  of  Texas,  contained  a  75-page  summary  of  the 
causes  and  events  of  the  war  prepared  by  Professor  Duncalf.     The 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE   WORLD  WAR.  275 

summary  was  entitled  "A  War  Text  for  Texas  Schools."  It  made 
no  pretense  of  being  either  a  thorough  or  final  treatment  of  the  war. 
Its  purpose  was  to  gather  in  concise  form  the  more  significant  phases 
of  the  war  so  that  they  would  be  easily  taught  in  the  Texas  schools. 
In  the  preface  the  author  emphasizes  the  responsibility  of  the  teachers 
in  the  development  of  wholesome  public  opinion.     He  says : 

A  heavy  responsibility  rests  upon  all  history  teachers  in  our  present  crisis, 
for  their  instruction  will  have  great  influence  upon  the  opinions  of  their  pupils. 
Amid  the  bitterness  and  hatred  that  war  develops  it  becomes  increasingly  neces- 
sary for  as  many  people  as  possible  to  keep  clearly  in  mind  the  main  issues  of 
this  conflict.  Disloyalty  and  intrigue  are  abroad,  and  Americans  should  one 
and  all  so  understand  our  part  in  this  war  that  no  doubt  or  faint  heartedness 
can  turn  us  aside  from  what  we  have  undertaken  to  do. 

This  war  text  consists  of  eight  chapters.  The  first,  "  Conditions  at 
the  Outbreak  of  the  War,"  is  divided  into  the  following :  "America," 
"  The  Rivalry  of  European  Nations,"  "  Prussia,"  "  The  German  Con- 
stitution," "Why  Germany  has  not  Become  Democratic,"  "Germany's 
Demand  for  a  place  in  the  Sun,"  "  Germany's  Justification  of  the 
War,"  "  The  Growth  of  Large  Armaments,"  and  "  Efforts  to  Limit 
the  Preparation  for  War."  The  second  chapter  discusses  the  "  His- 
torical Background  of  the  War,"  "The  Franco-Prussian  War," 
"  The  Triple  Alliance,"  "  The  Dual  Alliance,"  "  Change  in  English 
Policy,"  "The  Anglo-French  Entente,"  "The  Morocco  Question," 
"The  Rise  of  the  Balkan  States,"  "The  Development  of  German 
Interests  in  the  East,"  "Austrian  Annexation  of  Bosina  and  Herze- 
govina," "  The  Balkan  Wars,"  "  Germany  and  Russia,"  and  "  Ger- 
many and  England."  Chapter  3,  on  the  "Austro- Serbian  Contro- 
versy," emphasizes  "Austrian  Hostility  toward  Serbia,"  "The 
Menace  of  Pan  Slavism  to  the  Dual  Monarch,"  "  The  Assassination 
at  Serajevo,"  and  the  "Austrian  Ultimatum."  Chapter  4  discusses 
the  "  Efforts  to  Avert  War  and  Their  Failure,"  "  Russia's  Position," 
"  Sir  Edward  Grey's  Proposals,"  "  Germany's  Attitude,"  and  "  Mobi- 
lization." Chapter  5  on  "  How  the  War  Began,"  the  more  important 
topical  headings  are  "  Great  Britain  not  Prepared  for  War," 
"  England  Anxious  to  Preserve  Peace,"  "  The  Neutrality  of  Belgium 
and  Luxemburg,"  "  German  Demands  upon  Belgium,"  "  England 
Enters  the  War,"  and  "  Other  Countries  Enter  the  War."  Chapter 
6,  on  "  The  Progress  of  the  War,"  discusses  the  "  Methods  of  War- 
fare," and  contains  a  chronological  summary  of  the  military  progress 
of  the  war.  Chapter  7  takes  up  the  question  of  "  How  the  United 
States  Entered  the  War;"  and  Chapter  8  is  a  summary  of  "The 
Issues  Involved,"  with  the  following  divisions :  "  German  Militarism 
Must  be  Crushed,"  "  No  Hope  for  Peace  from  the  German  People," 
"The  Principle  of  Nationality,"  "What  Allied  Victory  Will  mean," 
*A  League  to  Enforce  Peace," 


276  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION'. 


This  text  book  was  used  in  many  of  the  Texas  schools  and  a  second 
edition  was  necessary. 

The  Texas  History  Teachers'  Bulletin,  issued  quarterly  and  sent 
free  of  charge  to  every  history  teacher  in  the  State  of  Texas,  pub- 
lished regularly  selected  bibliographies  on  the  war.  It  also  made 
an  effort  to  ascertain  what  was  being  done  in  the  high  schools  of 
the  State  in  the  teachings  of  the  war,  and  to  make  known  the  results 
of  this  investigation  to  the  history  teachers  of  the  State.  On  April 
8,  1918,  a  questionnaire  submitting  the  following  questions  was  sent 
to  every  high  school  in  the  State  of  Texas : 

1.  Is  any  attention  being  given  to  the  study  of  the  present  conflict  in  the 
history  classroom?    If  so,  how  much? 

2.  What  effect,  in  general,  has  the  war  had  upon  (a)  the  content  of  each  of 
the  several  history  courses  in  your  curriculum;  and  (6)  upon  the  method  of 
instruction? 

3.  What  effect,  if  any,  has  the  war  had  upon  the  students'  knowledge  of  (a) 
geography,  (&)  government,  (c)  ecnomics?  Do  the  students  know  the  location 
of  the  most  important  States  involved  in  the  war  and  their  geographic  rela- 
tions? Are  they  sufficiently  interested  in  the  struggle  t©  observe  voluntarily 
the  shifting  battle  lines? 

4.  What  methods,  if  any,  are  followed  in  the  study  of  the  war? 

5.  What  attention,  if  any,  is  given  to  (a)  the  causes  of  the  entrance  of  the 
United  States  of  America  into  the  war,  (&)  the  part  which  America  ought  to 
play,  (c)  the  aims  of  the  United  States? 

The  answers  received  t©  this  questionnaire  showed  a  wholesome 
interest  in  the  study  of  the  war  throughout  the  State.  On  the 
average  one-sixth  of  the  time  allotted  to  history  was  consumed  in  the 
study  of  the  war,  its  causes,  events,  and  objects.  Parallels  and  con- 
trasts were  made  use  of  in  each  of  the  courses.  Contemporary  peri- 
odicals, bulletin  boards,  pictures,  lantern  slides,  lectures,  class  dis- 
cussions, and  war  maps  were  used  in  the  instruction.  The  teachers 
were  unanimous  in  stating  that  the  war  acted  as  a  stimulant  to  the 
study  of  geography,  economics,  and  government.  The  responsibilit3T 
of  the  teacher  in  teaching  good  citizenship  was  emphasized  by  all. 

With  reference  to  the  circulation  of  books  and  periodicals  con- 
taining important  historical  information  relating  to  the  war,  the 
extension  loan  library  of  the  University  of  Texas  made  the  following 
report  for  the  year  1918 : 

Number  of  libraries  loaned  on  war  subjects,  April,  1917,  to  November, 
1918,  1,113. 

Estimated  number  of  people  who  used  libraries,  5,500. 

Most  popular  subjects,  with  the  number  of  libraries  loaned  on  each :  Military 
training,  161 ;  Red  Cross,  54 ;  women  and  the  war,  37 ;  school  entertainments 
(patriotic),  35;  patriotism,  34;  United  States  and  the  war,  32;  thrift,  31; 
causes  of  the  war,  30 ;  results  of  the  war,  29 ;  Russia  and  the  War,  29 ;  war,  28 ; 
food  conservation,  28;  conscription,  24;  democracy,  24;  Government  control 
of  railroads,  24. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR,  277 

Purposes  for  which  libraries  were  used: 
School  work — 

Supplementary  reading. 
Theme  writing. 
Debates. 

School  entertainments. 
Club  work. 
Campaigns  to  raise  money  for  the  Red  Cross,  Liberty  loans,  and  United 

war  work. 
For  the  information  of  individuals  who  desired  to  inform  themselves  on 
war  topics. 

Professors  Barker,  Bantel.  Duncalf,  Henderson,  Hendrix,  Penick, 
Riker,  Royster,  and  others  of  the  State  university,  delivered  a  series 
of  lectures  to  the  several  classes  of  soldiers  stationed  at  Camp  Mabry. 
A  number  of  the  faculty  also  assisted  in  the  dissemination  of  war  in- 
formation by  serving  as  members  of  the  four-minute  speakers'  organi- 
zation. 

The  department  of  extension  of  the  University  of  Texas  cooper- 
ated with  the  Texas  State  Council  of  Defense  through  the  inter- 
scholastic  league,  the  division  of  home  economics,  and  the  division 
of  information.  A  book  entitled  "  Patriotic  Selections,"  edited  by 
Dr.  E.  D.  Shurter,  chairman  of  the  Interscholastic  League,  and  paid 
for  by  the  State  council  of  defense,  was  presented  to  every  school 
belonging  to  the  league.  In  presenting  this  book  to  the  schools 
Dr.  Shurter  had  this  to  say : 

Let  all  the  speakers  in  the  declamation  contests  remember  this,  that  you 
are  commissioned  by  our  Government  to  deliver  to  Texas  audiences  the  patriotic 
messages  from  our  leaders  that  are  contained  in  this  book;  that  whether  you 
win  in  a  particular  contest  or  not  you  are  performing  a  patriotic  service  that  is 
officially  recognized  by  our  State  council  of  defense;  and,  above  all,  that  you 
are  doing  your  part  in  helping  America  to  win  a  World  War  which  involves 
not  only  the  freedom  of  our  own  country,  but  the  freedom  of  republican  govern- 
ment everywhere. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  boys  and  girls  belonging  to  the  Inter- 
scholastic League  delivered  patriotic  selections  from  this  book  to 
Texas  audiences  aggregating  200,000  people  in  the  various  local, 
county,  district,  and  State  contests  of  the  league.  The  division  of 
home  economics  of  the  department  of  extension  in  cooperation  with 
the  State  council  of  defense  published  bulletins  for  free  distribu- 
tion giving  war-time  recipes.  In  its  annual  report  in  1918  the  divi- 
sion of  information,  department  of  extension,  University  of  Texas, 
had  this  to  say  . 

The  publicity  committee  of  the  Texas  State  Council  of  Defense  has  recognized 
this  division  of  the  university  department  of  extension  as  the  depository  for 
visual  instruction  material  used  in  its  work,  and  has  placed  here  $1,000  worth 
of  equipment  to  be  circulated  throughout  the  State.  This  equipment  con- 
sists of  10  steropticons,  fitted  not  only  with  high-power  inazda  lamps,  but  also 


278  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

with  high-power  acetylene  gas  lamps,  so  that  they  can  be  taken  into  any  rural 
church  or  school  and  operated  with  a  Prest-o-lite  gas  tank,  such  as  can  be  ob- 
tained from  a  garage,  and  2,000  lantern  slides,  which  are  to  be  divided  into 
sets  of  about  50  each,  and  sent  out  with  appropriate  lecture  material.  Mr. 
Riker,  of  the  school  of  history,  is  preparing  a  number  of  sets  of  slides  with 
lecture  material  that  will  also  circulate  under  the  auspices  of  the  Texas  State 
council  of  defense.  The  first  set  deals  with  Germany's  dream  of  empire,  and 
traces  the  development  of  the  German  Empire  from  the  little  Duchy  of  Braden- 
burg  to  its  present  "  Mittel-Europa  "  form. 

Besides  the  equipment  provided  by  the  State  council  of  defense 
for  the  spread  of  war  information,  this  division  itself  purchased  a 
great  many  lantern  slides  on  such  subjects  as  "  Destroyed  Art  in 
Belgium  and  France,"  "  The  Story  of  the  Flag,"  "  The  Bell  and  the 
Flag,"  and  "America  and  Destiny."  It  also  cooperated  with  the 
United  States  Food  Administration  in  circulating  lantern  slides  deal- 
ing with  food  problems  of  the  war. 

All  freshmen  and  sophomores  in  both  the  University  of  Texas  and 
the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  Texas  were  required  to 
take  the  course  on  "  War  aims  and  issues."  Uniformity  in  subject 
matter  and  instruction  at  the  University  of  Texas  was  obtained  by 
means  of  a  syllabus  prepared  by  the  department  of  history.  The 
history  department  in  every  possible  way  cooperated  with  the  Na- 
tional Board  for  Historical  Service. 

A  great  deal  of  progress  has  been  made  in  the  collection  and  classi- 
fication for  permanent  preservation  of  the  war  records  of  the  State  of 
Texas.  This  work  is  being  done  by  the  Texas  war  records  collec- 
tion, an  organization  created  by  the  board  of  regents  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Texas,  October  22,  1918,  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Milton 
R.  Gutsch,  adjunct  professor  of  history  in  the  University  of  Texas. 
At  that  time  an  appropriation  of  $7,500  for  the  collection  of  Texas 
records  and  of  $5,000  for  the  collection  of  general  war  records  was 
made.  The  organization  consists  of  the  director  and  the  central  ad- 
ministrative staff,  the  county  and  community  war  records  organiza- 
tions, and  the  auxiliary  agencies.  The  chairman  of  the  county  war 
records  committee  in  each  county  is  appointed  by  the  director  upon 
the  recommendation  of  prominent  citizens.  The  chairman  then  ap- 
points his  own  committee.  The  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  the  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  are  assisting  in  the  collection  of  the  county  war 
records  of  the  State. 

The  objects  of  the  organization  are:  (1)  The  collection  of  all  ma- 
terial relating  to  the  contributions  of  Texas  in  men  and  resources, 
to  the  winning  of  the  war;  (2)  The  classification  of  such  material; 
and  (3)  its  preservation.  The  materials  to  be  collected  are:  (a)  Gen- 
eral material,  both  American  and  foreign;  (b)  State  materials;  (<?) 
county  and  community  records. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  279 

(a)  The  general  records  consist  of  books  relating  to  the  war  and 
reconstruction,  about  1,800  to  date;  pamphlets,  numbering  about  1,600 
acquired  without  cost  to  the  university,  circular  letters  having  been 
sent  to  every  organization  or  individual  in  this  country  known  to 
have  published  any  such  material ;  a  collection  of  posters  and  broad- 
sides, consisting  of  approximately  1,500  different  designs;  15,000 
official  United  States  war  photographs;  war  and  reconstruction  files 
of  several  representative  newspapers  from  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  Germany,  Austria,  Australia,  Canada,  Mexico,  Argentina, 
Brazil,  and  Chile;  maps  from  the  National  Geographic  Society,  the 
Carta  D'ltalia,  Rand  McNally  maps,  the  Kenyon  war  maps,  and 
others ;  mementos,  consisting  of  a  small  collection  of  tags,  buttons,  etc. 

(&)  State  records  now  in  the  archives  of  the  Texas  war  records  col- 
lection are  the  council  of  defense;  Liberty  loan;  food  administra- 
tion ;  State  draft  board,  consisting  of  complete  lists  of  men  inducted 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States  and  classified  by  counties ;  Red 
Cross ;  Jewish  Welfare  Board ;  War  Camp  Community  Service ;  war 
speakers'  bureau ;  Boy  Scouts,  a  portion  of  the  Armenian  and  other 
relief  organization  records;  a  large  number  of  camp  photographs; 
and  records  from  the  United  States  Employment  Bureau. 

State  records  now  being  compiled  for  the  university  are  war  sav- 
ings stamps  and  certificates  of  indebtedness ;  Y.  M.  C.  A. ;  Y.  W.  C. 
A. ;  Knights  of  Columbus ;  Salvation  Army ;  State  government  rec- 
ords; war  industries  records;  and  county  and  community  records, 
including  military  and  naval  service  records,  records  of  the  several 
war  service  organizations,  and  records  of  local  conditions,  most  of 
which  are  to  be  collected  by  means  of  questionnaires  by  the  county 
war  records  committees. 

Nothing  as  yet  has  been  done  regarding  the  preparation  of  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  State's  participation  in  the  war.  A  number  of 
local  organization  histories,  however,  have  appeared.  Among  these 
the  most  important  are  "  The  History  of  the  Nineteenth  Division," 
and  "  Kelly  Field  and  the  Great  World  War."  Other  histories  that 
have  appeared  are  "  Houston's  Part  in  the  World  War,"  "Anderson 
County  War  History,"  "  Leon  County  Boys  in  the  World  War," 
"  Final  Report  of  the  Texas  State  Council  of  Defense,"  and  a  number 
of  histories  of  county  chapters  of  the  American  Red  Cross. 

UTAH. 

By  A.  L.  Neff,  Department  of  History,  University  of  Utah. 

Often  in  history  an  inland  State  has  displayed  marked  disinclina- 
tion to  comprehend  its  duties  as  measured  in  terms  of  the  whole.  The 
remoteness  of  Utah  from  menace  of  attack  and  invasion  might  lead 
one  to  suppose  that  it  was  more  or  less  oblivious  to  national  and  inter- 


280  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

national  dangers.  Quite  the  reverse  was  the  situation.  The  quota 
assigned  to  Utah  in  the  first  Liberty  loan  was  oversubscribed  42  per 
cent;  the  second  62  per  cent;  while  the  State  finished  fifth  in  the  Na- 
tion and  second  in  the  twelfth  federal  reserve  district  in  the  third  loan. 
Indeed  every  financial  call  was  promptly  and  fully  met.  The  State's 
record  along  lines  of  food  production  and  conservation  was  truly 
enviable,  while  its  man  power  went  forth  willingly  to  fight  for  the 
principles  of  democracy.  Results  of  such  character  and  magnitude 
indicate  keen  appreciation  of  international  values  and  intense 
patriotism  for  America  and  the  principles  for  which  it  stands. 

The  contribution  of  university  men  toward  the  creation  of  the 
splendid  war  spirit  in  Utah  was  considerable.  The  people  looked  to 
the  institutions  for  higher  learning,  particularly  to  the  department 
of  history  and  political  science  for  guidance  in  the  interpretation  of 
the  issues  of  the  hour.  Courses  were  offered  on  "  the  causes  of  the 
war,"  "American  ideas  and  ideals,"  and  "issues  of  the  war"  for 
resident,  extension,  and  correspondent  students.  Communications  to 
the  press  from  the  pen  of  history  men  exerted  influence  in  yet  other 
fields.  The  State  council  of  defense  published  a  series  of  bulletins 
setting  forth  our  war  aims  prepared  by  the  staff  of  the  University  of 
Utah.  Profs.  George  E.  Fellows  and  Levi  Edgar  Young  performed 
valuable  service  as  platform  speakers.  Dr.  John  A.  Widtsoe,  presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Utah,  and  Dr.  E.  G.  Peterson,  president  of 
the  Utah  Agricultural  College,  were  members  of  the  State  council 
for  defense  and  gave  unstintingly  of  their  expert  knowledge 
especially  along  lines  of  food  production. 

Dr.  George  Thomas,  head  of  the  department  of  economics,  was  the 
efficient  director  and  organizer  for  the  Students'  Army  Training 
Corps,  which  was  becoming  a  promising  feature  of  the  University 
of  Utah  when  the  war  closed.  Similar  activities  were  underway  at 
the  agricultural  college  and  the  Brigham  Young  University. 

Compilations  were  prepared  and  published  by  the  State  council  of 
defense  during  the  war,  and  a  comprehensive  report  of  its  activities 
gotten  out  on  the  termination  of  its  war  functions. 

The  collection  and  preservation  of  war  materials  and  records  is 
now  the  especial  duty  of  the  Utah  Historical  Society.  The  council 
of  defense  had  begun  the  collection  of  war  data,  having  appointed  a 
war  historian  for  that  purpose;  but  the  legislature  which  convened 
the  winter  of  191&-1919  designated  the  Utah  Historical  Society  as 
the  proper  depository  for  all  historical  material.  Furthermore,  this 
legislature  authorized  the  society  to  prepare  a  history  of  Utah's  par- 
ticipation in  the  World  War  and  appropriated  the  sum  of  $5,000  for 
this  purpose,  the  construction  of  which  is  now  actively  underway 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  A.  L.  Neff,  assistant  professor  of  history 
in  the  University  of  Utah. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORU)  WAR.  281 

VIKGINIA. 
By  Arthur  Kyi-e  Davts,  Chairman  of  the  Virginia  War  History  Commission. 

The  historical  activities  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  in  consequence 
of  the  Great  War  and  in  order  to  preserve  source  material  for  the 
future  historian,  included  active  work  on  the  part  of  organizations 
and  individuals. 

In  the  war  period  there  were  formed  throughout  Virginia  a  num- 
ber of  local  groups  organized  for  the  specific  purpose  of  securing  and 
preserving  the  full  records  of  the  several  military  organizations  that 
went  from  the  State.  As  examples  of  such  associations  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Richmond  Blues'  Association  and  the  Richmond  Howit- 
zers' Association,  composed  largely  of  the  relatives  and  friends  of 
those  organizations  and  formed  for  the  double  purpose  of  ministering 
to  the  needs  of  the  members  and  of  preserving  the  story  and  experi- 
ences of  the  unit  as  a  whole  and  of  the  individual  members. 

In  most  of  the  counties  of  Virginia  a  similar  work  was  undertaken 
with  reference  to  the  volunteers  and  drafted  men  represented  in  the 
service  flag  of  each  county.  This  work  of  helpfulness  and  of  au- 
thentic recording  of  history  was  largely  undertaken  in  the  counties 
through  some  patriotic  local  society  already  in  existence.  The  first 
specific  impetus  to  this  work  was  probably  given  by  Sussex  County, 
where  the  first  county  service  flag  was  unveiled  with  proper  cere- 
monies under  the  auspices  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy.  This 
flag  contained  about  one  thousand  stars,  one  or  two  of  them  being 
gold  stars,  and  the  address  on  "  The  Virginia  Symmachy,"  made  on 
this  occasion  by  Mr.  Arthur  Kyle  Davis,  of  Petersburg,  contained 
the  germ  of  the  plan  later  adopted  in  the  work  of  the  Virginia  War 
History  Commission. 

Most  of  the  patriotic  organizations  of  Virginia,  such  as  the 
Colonial  Dames,  D.  A.  R.,  U.  D.  C,  the  S.  A.  R.,  as  well  as  the  social 
welfare  organizations,  such  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Elks  and  others, 
made  active  effort  to  secure  the  true  records  and  experiences  of  their 
members  in  the  service  in  addition  to  cooperating  in  all  the  patriotic 
undertakings  of  the  time. 

The  plan  of  the  service  flag  probably  reached  its  fullest  develop- 
ment in  the  case  of  the  churches  of  all  denominations.  Throughout 
Virginia  these  service  flags  were  displayed  in  the  churches  and  in 
many  cases  the  lists  of  the  men  in  service  were  posted  in  the  vesti- 
bules of  the  churches.  In  addition  to  this,  many  of  the  churches 
located  near  the  camp  areas  kept  records  of  their  activities  in  con- 
nection with  soldier  welfare,  while  the  various  branches  of  the  Red 
Cross  throughout  Virginia,  both  in  the  cities  and  in  the  counties, 
kept  accounts  of  their  relief  work. 


282  AMEBICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION". 

The  Virginia  schools  and  colleges  kept  the  records  of  their  mem- 
bers in  military  service  and  civilian  service,  as  it  was  recognized 
from  the  beginning  that  the  war  record  of  each  institution  would  be 
subjected  to  the  jealous  scrutiny  of  the  members  and  alumni  in  the 
future.  In  many  cases  definite  clipping  bureaus  were  kept  by  the 
institutions  with  this  end  in  view,  so  that  a  mass  of  material  for  the 
history  of  the  participation  in  service  and  war  work  were  secured 
during  the  war  itself. 

The  newspapers  of  Virginia  threw  open  their  columns  to  all  in- 
teresting war  material  and  thousands  of  soldiers'  letters  and  stories 
of  courage  and  gallantry  were  published  side  by  side  with  the  daily 
record  of  military  and  civilian  activities  of  war  time. 

In  many  of  the  counties  patriotic  individuals  undertook  the  com- 
pilation and  sometimes  the  publication  of  the  records  of  the  county 
soldiers.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these  publications  was  the  pam- 
phlet issued  by  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  Richmond  Times  Dis- 
patch, notably,  the  "  Book  of  Honor,"  giving  the  story  of  all  the 
Virginia  soldiers  that  fell  in  war  time.  An  example  of  work  of 
this  sort  is  "  The  Final  Roster,"  a  bound  book  of  about  250  pages 
containing  the  story  of  the  war  work  of  Nottoway  County  and  giv- 
ing the  service  records  of  all  the  men  from  that  county.  This  book 
was  edited  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Cobb,  captain  of  infantry,  United  States 
Army.  As  a  further  example  of  such  patriotic  work  may  be  men- 
tioned a  collection  of  material  touching  the  history  of  Bath  County, 
made  and  preserved  by  Dr.  J.  T.  McAllister,  which  is  being  pre- 
pared by  him  for  the  files  of  the  Virginia  War  History  Commission 
and  which  he  is  now  putting  in  shape  for  a  definite  history  of  Bath 
County  in  the  war.  Another  notable  instance  of  the  collection  of 
material  for  preservation  is  that  of  the  city  of  Hopewell.  Dr. 
Helen  Love  Bossieux  collected  a  great  mass  of  material  which  is  now 
being  used  by  her  and  her  associates  in  the  preparation  of  a  history 
of  that  unique  community. 

The  University  of  Virginia  and  Hampden-Sidney  College  were 
among  the  institutions  that  first  put  into  print  the  definite  records 
of  their  alumni  in  the  World  War.  Through  the  Alumni  Bulletin, 
a  monthly  publication,  the  University  of  Virginia  collected  his- 
torical data  touching  its  alumni  throughout  the  whole  period  of  the 
war,  and  the  work  of  preparing  and  compiling  a  definite  account  of 
the  participation  of  the  students  and  alumni  was  early  under  way. 
Hampden-Sidney  College  was  perhaps  first  in  publishing  a  full 
record  of  its  activities  in  the  Hampden-Sidney  Bulletin.  We  hardly 
need  explain  that  other  colleges  and  institutions  of  the  State  did 
similar  work  in  the  collection  of  historical  material  touching  their 
own  men  and  women. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE  WORLD  WAR.  283 

As  another  type  of  work  in  war  history  may  be  mentioned  such 
contributions  as  that  of  Miss  Genoa  Swecker,  entitled  "Rockingham 
County's  Contribution  to  the  World  War,"  published  in  the  Normal 
Bulletin  of  October,  1919.  This  10-page  resume  of  Rockingham 
County's  activities  is  in  the  nature  of  a  summary,  rather  than  a  de- 
tailed statement,  but  it  will  form  the  basis  of  a  fuller  treatise  and 
shows  the  care  with  which  the  local  records  are  being  preserved. 

The  records  of  the  State  council  of  defense  were  carefully  kept 
and  from  them  the  story  of  this  great  branch  of  war  history  is  now 
being  compiled  for  the  war  history  commission  by  the  secretary  of 
the  council,  Col.  Charles  R.  Keiley,  who  has  placed  scores  of  volumes 
of  correspondence  and  publications  of  the  State  council  of  defense 
in  the  files  of  the  Virginia  War  History  Commission.  This  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  important  single  gift  that  the  commission  has  yet 
received. 

The  office  of  the  adjutant  general  of  Virginia,  Gen.  Jo.  Lane  Stern, 
has  been  one  of  the  major  agencies  for  the  preservation  of  every 
available  bit  of  historical  material.  General  Stern,  fully  realizing 
Virginia's  lack  of  records  of  the  Civil  War  period,  has  been  most 
efficient  in  securing  and  preserving  material  of  permanent  value  for 
the  Virginia  records. 

Individual  soldiers  of  Virginia,  both  privates  and  officers,  have 
been  wise  enough  to  keep  the  records  of  their  experiences  and  impres- 
sions, sometimes  in  diaries  and  sometimes  in  printed  books.  Col. 
Ashby  Williams,  of  Roanoke,  has  published  a  valuable  and  interest- 
ing record  in  "  Experiences  of  the  World  War,"  a  book  of  some 
200  pages;  and  Col.  Jennings  C.  Wise  has  produced  several  publica- 
tions of  real  value,  including  his  "  History  of  the  Eightieth  Divi- 
sion." Among  the  diaries  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Capt.  Lucien 
Cocke,  of  Roanoke,  which  has  for  some  time  been  among  the  files  of 
the  Virginia  War  History  Commission. 

By  teaching  in  the  schools  and  colleges,  by  lectures,  by  circulation 
of  periodicals,  and  by  the  contribution  of  articles  in  newspapers  and 
magazines  Virginia  men  and  women  endeavored  to  bring  the  issues 
and  the  facts  before  the  people  of  the  State. 

The  results  of  all  war-history  activities  are  being  brought  to  a 
common  center  through  the  work  of  the  Virginia  War  History  Com- 
mission, a  body  of  18  members  appointed  by  Governor  Davis  in 
January,  1919,  and  now  working  through  122  local  branches  through- 
out the  State.  Definite  plans  for  the  publication  of  a  State  history 
in  4  volumes  of  600  pages  each  are  well  under  way  and  valuable 
source  material  touching  civilian  and  war  activities  is  being  stored 
both  m  the  central  archives  in  Richmond  and  in  local  archives 
throughout  the  cities  and  counties  of  the  State. 


284  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  publications  of  the  war  history  commission  include  seven 
issues  of  the  Virginia  War  History  Commission's  News  Letter  and 
three  pamphlets;  No.  1,  "Plans  and  Personnel  of  the  Virginia  War 
History  Commission";  No.  2,  "Virginia's  War  History";  and  No. 
3,  "  Virginia  in  the  War." 

The  progress  of  this  work  of  the  commission  may  be  summed  up 
in  a  quotation  from  page  10  of  "  Virginia's  War  History  " : 

The  commission  has  to  its  credit  at  least  10  matters  of  great  pith  and 
moment  that  deserve  the  name  of  action,  as  follows : 

1.  Virginia  plan  of  history. — The  Virginia  Commission  originated  and  pub- 
lished the  first  specific  and  comprehensive  plan  by  sections  for  a  State  history. 

2.  Associate  group  of  editors. — It  secured  for  its  important  task  the  patriotic 
cooperation  of  a  large  and  distinguished  group  of  associates. 

3.  State  plan  of  local  branches. — It  organized  throughout  the  State  local 
branches  or  committees  of  three  in  every  city  and  county. 

4.  Booklets  and  news  letters. — It  has  published  and  distributed  to  the  mem- 
bers one  pamphlet  on  the  general  plan,  one  on  community  history,  and  seven 
News  Letters. 

5.  Outlines  and  questionnaires. — It  has  prepared  and  furnished  to  the  local 
branches  outlines  and  questionnaires  covering  the  varied  phases  of  State 
activities. 

6.  Monthly  and  quarterly  meetings. — Monthly  meetings  have  been  held  for 
reports  and  discussion  with  inspirational  meetings  and  addresses  each  quarter. 

7.  Field  agents  and  stated  drives. — Four  field  agents  for  the  counties  and  one 
for  the  cities  are  now  at  work,  and  six  special  drives  for  data  are  under  way. 

8.  Military  and  civilian  records. — A  goodly  percentage  of  service  records 
and  many  reports  of  civilian  activities  have  been  secured  and  are  on  file. 

9.  Central  and  local  archives. — The  commission  has  established  central 
archives  in  Richmond  and  local  archives  in  every  city  and  county  of  the  State. 

10.  Appeal  to  all  Virginians. — Through  the  press,  through  letters  and  circu- 
lars, and  through  many  addresses  constant  appeal  is  being  made  to  all 
Virginians. 

WASHINGTON. 

This  report  was  prepared  from  a  letter  by  Edmond  S.  Meant,  Department  of 
History,  University  of  Washington. 

The  members  of  the  history  department  in  the  University  of 
Washington  were  active  in  patriotic  work  throughout  the  war.  Dr. 
Ralph  H.  Lutz,  assistant  professor  of  European  history,  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Intelligence  Department  with  the  American  Army  in 
France. 

On  that  portion  of  the  campus  bordering  on  Lakes  Union  and 
Washington  the  Government  maintained  a  naval  training  camp,  the 
numbers  rising  from  300  to  2,000.    Lectures  were  in  demand  there. 

A  trip  of  three  hours  reached  Camp  Lewis,  one  of  the  Govern- 
ment's larger  cantonments.  Through  tho  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the 
Knights  of  Columbus  regular  courses  of  lectures  were  given  by  the 
members  of  the  history  department. 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  285 

When  the  National  Board  for  Historical  Service  undertook  to  give 
six  illustrated  lectures  before  all  the  troops  in  training,  early  in 
1918,  the  department  took  over  the  work  for  Camp  Lewis  and  pur- 
chased an  independent  set  of  slides  for  that  purpose.  In  giving  the 
lectures  the  members  of  the  department  were  assisted  by  Prof. 
Walter  S.  Davis  of  the  College  of  Puget  Sound,  Tacoma ;  Mr.  O.  B. 
Sperlin,  of  the  Stadium  High  School,  Tacoma ;  and  Mr.  S.  E.  Flem- 
ing, of  the  Franklin  High  School,  Seattle.  J.  N.  Bowman,  associate 
professor  of  European  history,  University  of  Washington,  was  espe- 
cially successful  in  this  and  similar  work  at  Camp  Lewis.  He  sub- 
sequently left  the  University  and  is  still  engaged  in  the  Govern- 
ment's placement  work  among  returned  soldiers  and  sailors. 

Various  communities  of  the  State  and  leaders  of  Liberty  bond 
selling  drives  made  much  use  of  the  history  men  of  the  university. 
Oliver  H.  Richardson,  professor  of  European  history,  was  especially 
active  with  community  lectures. 

Prof.  Edmond  S.  Meany  supervised  the  war  aims  course  for  the 
Students'  Army  Training  Corps.  Those  giving  the  lectures  were 
Prof.  Oliver  H.  Richardson,  Prof.  Richard  F.  Scholz,  Associate  Prof. 
Edmond  McMahon,  of  the  history  department,  and  Dean  Stephen  I. 
Miller,  Jr.,  of  the  College  of  Business  Administration. 

One  of  the  younger  men,  Victor  J.  Farrar,  research  assistant  in 
Northwestern  history,  served  18  months  as  sergeant  first  class  with 
Base  Hospital  50,  in  France. 

When  the  appeal  came  from  the  National  Board  for  Historical 
Service  to  organize  the  State  for  the  preservation  of  historical 
records  of  the  war,  it  was  decided  to  organize  Washington  into 
county  units.  This  work,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Meany, 
was  completed  and  the  reports  show  that  most  of  the  39  counties 
were  successful  in  accumulating  materials  for  deposit  in  the  most 
central  library  of  each. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

By  Oliver  Perry  Chitwood,  Department  of  History  and  Political  Science,  West 

Virginia  University. 

West  Virginia  did  not  provide  for  a  war  history  commission,  and 
consequently  very  little  has  been  done  throughout  the  State  in  col- 
lecting records.  The  legislature  made  provision  for  the  county 
clerks  to  secure  the  war  records  of  the  men  from  their  counties,  but, 
apparently,  few  of  them  made  any  effort  to  carry  out  the  provision. 
Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  of  Huntington,  compiled  a  record  for  Cabell 
County,  which  has  been  published  and  is  a  very  creditable  piece  of 
work.     A  similar  record  for  Ohio  County  has  been  compiled. 

Mr.  Clifford  R.  Myers,  State  historian  and  archivist,  has  been 
energetically  collecting  relics  and  papers  of  the  war.     However,  he 


286  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

is  considerably  handicapped  in  this  work,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  restricted  quarters  of  the  department  of  archives  and  history  at 
Charleston  do  not  afford  ample  housing  space  for  all  the  relics  and 
documents  that  he  can  collect.  The  library  of  West  Virginia  Uni- 
versity has  also  kept  complete  files  of  Government  publications  and 
pamphlets,  and  the  publications  of  the  American  Association  for 
International  Conciliation,  the  National  Security  League,  and  other- 
patriotic  organizations. 

The  adjutant  general's  office  has  received  from  the  war  department 
a  card  index  record  of  all  the  men  in  the  service  who  gave  West 
Virginia  as  their  place  of  residence,  which  is  now  being  prepared 
for  publication.  Gov.  Cornwell  has  had  printed  a  complete  record 
of  the  draft.  It  includes  the  name,  place,  and  serial  number  of 
each  man.  The  old  National  Guard  records  are  in  the  adjutant 
general's  office.  From  these  a  fairly  complete  record  of  the  West  Vir- 
ginians who  took  part  in  the  war  can  be  compiled.  Of  course  in 
cases  where  the  man  enlisted  in  another  State  and  gave  his  place  of 
enlistment  as  his  residence,  the  record  will  credit  him  to  the  place  of 
enlistment.  We  may  lose  many  men  in  that  way,  yet  at  the  same 
time  some  will  be  gained. 

The  war  gave  a  great  impetus  to  historical  instruction  in  West 
Virginia.  A  great  many  of  the  addresses  and  short  speeches  made 
in  connection  with  the  various  patriotic  drives  were  more  or  less  his- 
torical in  character.  These  addresses  were  made  by  professors  in 
the  university  and  denominational  colleges,  teachers  and  superin- 
tendents in  the  normal  and  high  schools,  lawyers,  and  public-spirited 
men  representing  all  trades  and  professions.  These  speeches  were 
delivered  at  high  school  commencements,  educational  and  religious 
meetings,  and  on  practically  all  public  occasions.  These  addresses 
were  generally  if  not  always  in  the  nature  of  propaganda;  but  de- 
spite this  fact  a  good  deal  of  sound  historical  information  was 
spread  abroad  through  these  agencies.  Of  the  agencies  of  this  char- 
acter, the  most  effective  was  the  organization  of  the  Four  Minute 
Men.  These  speakers  were  heard  in  every  motion-picture  theater 
and  every  schoolhouse  in  the  State. 

So  far  as  I  know,  few  books  dealing  with  the  war  have  been 
written  by  West  Virginians.  The  best  account  of  the  part  played 
by  West  Virginia  in  the  war  is  found  in  the  "  West  Virginia  Legisla- 
tive Handbook  and  Manual  and  Official  Eegister  for  1918  and  1919," 
prepared  by  John  T.  Harris.  In  the  edition  for  1918  there  are  TO 
pages  devoted  to  West  Virginia's  activities  in  the  war.  This  in- 
cludes a  short  but  valuable  account  of  West  Virginia's  share  in  the 
conflict  prepared  by  the  late  Wilson  M.  Foulk,  former  State  his- 
torian and  archivist;  an  honor  roll  giving  the  names  of  West  Vir- 
ginians who  were  killed  or  died  in  action,  as  well  as  all  who  were 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  287 

missing,  taken  prisoners,  or  wounded;  and  an  account,  more  de- 
tailed, of  all  of  the  various  war  and  charity  organizations.  These 
latter  accounts  were  prepared  by  the  chairmen  or  other  prominent 
members  of  those  organizations  and  are  quite  valuable.  They  give 
lists  of  names  and  important  statistics.  They  are,  however,  incom- 
plete. The  Handbook  for  1919  devotes  20  chapters  to  war  activi 
ties.  It  discusses  more  completely  subjects  treated  in  the  1918  edi 
tion  and  also  contains  much  new  material. 

One  other  book  might  be  mentioned — "The  Immediate  Causes  of 
the  Great  War,"  by  Oliver  Perry  Chitwood,  professor  of  European 
history,  West  Virginia  University,  1917.  Revised  and  enlarged 
1918,  T.  Y.  Crowell  Co.,  New  York.  This  work  gives  a  brief  sur 
vey  of  the  events  of  recent  European  history  that  preceded  and  led 
up  to  the  outbreak  in  1914;  a  fuller  account  of  the  diplomatic  ne 
gotiations  of  the  twelve  days;  and  the  reasons  for  America's  en- 
trance into  the  conflict. 

While  West  Virginians  were  too  busy  to  write  many  books  dur- 
ing the  war,  there  were  some  important  historical  articles  published 
by  them.  Three  of  the  professors  of  the  department  of  history  of 
the  State  University  published  in  the  West  Virginia  School  Jour- 
nal and  Educator  historical  articles  dealing  with  some  phases  of 
the  war.  But  probably  the  most  important  articles  written  during 
the  war  were  those  published  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Callahan,  head  of  the 
department  of  history  and  dean  of  the  college  of  arts  and  sciences 
of  the  university.  He  wrote  a  series  of  five  articles  for  the  Foreign 
Press  Bureau  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information  for  publica- 
tion in  the  Latin  American  press.  The  object  of  these  articles  was 
to  show  to  the  South  American  peoples  the  bases  of  our  foreign 
policy,  to  allay  any  feeling  that  they  might  have  against  the  United 
States,  and  to  create  a  better  feeling  that  would  lead  to  a  closer 
cooperation  in  the  war  and  foreign  relations.  Several  of  the  arti- 
cles prepared  by  Dean  Callahan  for  the  "  Encyclopedia  Americana  " 
(new  edition)  also  had  a  bearing  on  the  war.  Of  these,  special 
mention  should  be  made  of  one  published  about  1918  giving  a  sur- 
vey of  our  diplomatic  relations  with  Germany.  Dean  Callahan 
also  gave  a  series  of  lectures  on  problems  of  international  law  and 
international  relations  at  the  University  of  Colorado  in  the  summer 
of  1918. 

A  course  in  current  European  history  was  given  each  semester 
during  the  war  in  nearly  all  of  the  high  schools,  West  Virginia 
Wesleyan  College,  Davis-Elkins  College,  Bethany  College,  the  vari- 
ous normal  schools,  and  the  university.  In  the  university  this  was 
a  popular  course  open  to  freshmen,  both  men  and  women.  War 
history  was  required  of  all  students  in  Davis-Elkins  College.  This 
course  was  also  well  attended  in  West  Virgina  Wesleyan  College. 


288  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL,  ASSOCIATION. 

the  average  attendance  for  the  year  being  about  50.  The  current  his- 
tory or  war-history  course  usually  dealt  with  the  current  events  of  the 
war  and  the  more  important  facts  in  recent  European  history  that 
constituted  the  background  of  the  war.  Besides,  every  course  in 
history  was  linked  up  with  the  war  so  far  as  possible. 

In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  courses,  offered  to  all  students, 
the  war-issues  course  was,  of  course,  given  to  all  Students'  Army 
Training  Corps  students.  The  institutions  at  which  these  students 
were  enrolled  were  West  Virginia  Wesleyan  College,  Davis-Elkins 
College,  and  the  university.  In  these,  instruction  was  give  as  far 
as  practicable  in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  and  directions 
issued  by  the  War  Department.  There  were  two  classes  of  these 
students — the  vocational  (section  B)  and  the  regular  college  students 
(section  A).  About  931  of  the  former  class  were  stationed  at  West 
Virginia  University  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1918.  They  were 
lectured  to  once  a  week  for  a  period  of  about  8  weeks  for  one 
class  and  12  weeks  for  another.  These  lectures  were  given  by 
instructors  in  the  department  of  history  of  the  university.  They 
dealt  with  the  political  and  economic  conditions  of  Europe  just 
prior  to  1914  and  their  relation  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war;  gave  a 
brief  survey  of  some  of  the  leading  events  that  created  the  enmities 
and  paved  the  way  for  the  great  struggle;  and  outlined  briefly  the 
diplomatic  negotiations  that  immediately  preceded  the  outbreak. 

Students  of  section  B  were  divided  into  two  classes — those  who 
had  not  had  elementary  courses  in  English  composition  and  those 
who  had.  To  the  former  a  course  of  three  hours  per  week,  called 
war  English,  was  given  by  the  departments  of  English  and  his- 
tory. One  period  was  devoted  to  lectures  on  history  and  quizzes 
on  assigned  historical  readings;  the  other  two  periods  were  given 
over  to  English  composition.  The  subject  material  for  the  themes 
was  taken  from  the  lectures  and  assigned  readings  in  history.  The 
second  class  were  required  to  take  three  hours  a  week  in  war  issues. 
This  course  was  under  the  entire  charge  of  the  history  department. 
It  dealt  with  the  historical  background  of  the  war,  the  diplomatic 
alinements  of  the  European  powers,  the  indirect  and  direct  causes 
of  the  war,  etc.  The  results  accomplished  for  both  classes  of  stu- 
dents were,  however,  very  unsatisfactory,  owing  to  the  precedence 
accorded  military  training. 

WISCONSIN. 

From  the  reports  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin  for  the  years  1918  and  1919. 

1918.  From  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  Europe  in  the  summer 
of  1914  the  several  departments  of  the  society's  working  staff  have 
labored  to  the  limit  of  their  ingenuity  and  ability  to  collect  for 


ACTIVITIES  DURING   THE   WOULD  WAR.  289 

permanent  preservation  the  records  concerning  the  war  that  were 
being  currently  produced  and,  for  the  most  part,  currently  consigned 
to  oblivion.  When  the  United  States  entered  the  arena  of  warfare 
it  became  obvious  that  some  special  administrative  machinery  must 
be  devised  if  the  work  of  collection  of  war  materials  was  to  be  con- 
tinued on  anything  like  an  adequate  s  ale.  Accordingly  the  matter 
was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  State  council  of  defense,  and 
early  in  the  year  1918  Chairman  Swenson  responded  to  the  repre- 
sentations that  had  been  made  on  the  subject  by  appointing  a  war 
history  commission  of  the  State  council  (composed  of  M.  M.  Quaife, 
chairman,  Madison;  Wm.  W.  Bartlett,  Eau  Claire;  Carl  Russell 
Fish,  Madison;  J.  H.  A.  Lacher,  Waukesha;  W.  N.  Parker,  Madi- 
son; A.  H.  Sanford,  La  Crosse,  and  Capt.  H.  A.  Whipple,  Water- 
loo), charged  with  the  general  duty  of  seeing  that  the  records  of 
Wisconsin's  participation  in  the  great  war  were  gathered  for  per- 
manent preservation. 

In  view  of  the  nature  of  this  task,  and  further  of  the  identity  of 
personnel  as  between  the  war  history  commission  and  the  society 
(the  superintendent  being  the  chairman  of  the  commission  and  all 
its  members  but  one  being  prominently  identified  with  the  historical 
society)  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  the  society  would  cooperate  to 
every  reasonable  extent  with  the  commission  in  the  prosecution  of 
its  work.  The  plan  of  operations  adopted  by  the  commission  con- 
templated the  organization  of  war  history  committees  in  the  several 
counties  of  the  State,  each  of  which  should  undertake  to  collect  the 
personal  and  other  records  of  the  county's  participation  in  the  war, 
the  courthouse  or  some  centrally  located  library  being  made  the  de- 
pository of  the  collection.  To  initiate  and  direct  the  county  organ- 
izations the  services  of  Dr.  Oliver,  of  the  society's  research  staff, 
were  loaned  to  the  commission  for  a  period  of  several  months, 
together  with  such  stenographic  and  other  assistance  as  was  needed. 

The  work  of  organization  was  pursued  with  vigor  and  enthusiasm 
by  Dr.  Oliver  during  the  spring  and  early  summer,  with  results,  on 
the  whole,  highly  gratifying  to  the  commission.  Unfortunately  for 
its  further  prosecution,  however,  Dr.  Oliver  resigned  in  August  to 
enter  the  Army,  and  became  henceforth  a  maker  rather  than  a  col- 
lector of  war  records.  To  the  present  time  (Oct.  24)  no  successor 
has  been  provided,  the  work  of  central  supervision  being  carried  on 
as  far  as  practicable  by  the  superintendent  from  the  society's  office 
in  Madison.  Arrangements  have  been  made,  meanwhile,  to  have 
Mr.  A.  O.  Barton,  of  Madison,  take  up  the  work  beginning  Novem- 
ber 1.  Under  his  supervision  it  is  expected  the  results  of  the  good 
beginning  made  in  the  early  months  of  the  commission's  activities 
will  be  conserved  and  further  extended.  With  a  view  to  prosecuting 
25066°— 23 19 


290  AMERICAN    HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

the  collection  of  historical  records  and  war  museum  objects  abroad 
as  well  as  at  home,  the  commission  has  invoked  the  approval  and 
support  of  the  State  council  of  defense  and  of  the  governor  that 
funds  and  authority  necessary  for  the  sending  of  an  agent  abroad 
may  be  provided.  At  the  time  of  making  this  report  the  hearty 
support  of  the  State  council  and  of  the  governor  have  been  enlisted 
for  the  project.  Unless  the  Federal  authorities  shall  withhold  con- 
sent it  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  the  mission  will  be  undertaken. 

Another  war  drive,  in  the  prosecution  of  which  the  historical  so- 
ciet}'  is  intimately  interested,  may  receive  appropriate  mention  here. 
The  field  of  European  history  is  assigned,  by  mutual  agreement,  to 
the  university  library.  Because  of  its  character  that  library  does  not 
cultivate  any  particular  field  intensively,  as  does  the  historical 
library  the  relatively  limited  one  marked  out  for  it.  Hence,  if  there 
was  to  be  assembled  at  Madison  a  thoroughgoing  collection  of  mate- 
rials pertaining  to  the  great  war  on  other  than  its  American  side, 
some  special  provision  for  its  upbuilding  was  required.  Such  pro- 
vision was  made  by  the  university  early  in  the  year.  A  special  appro- 
priation of  $5,000  annually  was  made  for  the  development  of  a  war 
collection  and  Dr.  A.  C.  Tilton,  formerly  of  the  historical  library! 
staff,  but  in  more  recent  years  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  and 
the  Library  of  Congress,  was  engaged  as  curator.  Through  the  spe-' 
cial  committtee  of  the  university  (of  which  the  superintendent  o£ 
the  society  was  made  a  member)  the  combined  resources  of  the  sev-i 
eral  departments  of  the  university  and  of  the  historical  society  are 
coordinated  under  Dr.  Tilton's  oversight,  with  a  view  to  providing^ 
on  the  European  side  of  the  war  a  collection  of  historical  materials 
comparable  to  that  which  the  society  is  developing  in  the  American 
field. 

1919.  The  preceding  report  told  the  story  down  to  the  latter  part 
of  October,  1918,  of  the  organization  and  work  of  the  war  history 
committee  of  the  State  council  of  defense  of  which  the  superintend- 
ent was  chairman,  and  the  funds  and  direction  of  which  were  sup- 
plied by  the  State  Historical  Society.  From  November  1,  1918.  to 
August  1  of  the  present  year  Mr.  A.  O.  Barton,  of  Madison,  was 
employed  by  the  society  in  the  capacity  of  director  of  the  war  his- 
tory committee.  This  work  he  carried  on  with  enthusiasm  and  suc- 
cess, and  on  laying  it  down  was  able  to  render  the  gratifying  report 
which  we  present  below.  Since  the  historical  society  had  taken  up 
this  work  as  the  most  appropriate  agency  for  meeting  a  war  emer- 
gency, it  was  felt  that  the  legislature  of  1919  should  indicate  its  ap- 
proval of  the  work  by  making  regular  and  adequate  provision  for 
its  continuance,  lacking  which,  the  work  would  necessarily  be  termi- 
nated. Accordingly  the  chairman  of  the  war  history  committee 
drafted  a  bill  providing  for  a  Wisconsin  War  History  Commission, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  291 

which  with  important  modifications  was  enacted  into  law.  The  law 
creates  a  nonsalaried  war  history  commission  of  six  members  (the 
governor,  the  adjutant  general,  the  superintendent  of  this  society, 
and  three  citizens  appointed  by  the  governor)  to  which  the  duty 
of  collecting  the  mpterials  and  compiling  a  history  of  Wisconsin's 
part  in  the  World  War  is  intrusted.  For  this  work  an  appropriation 
of  $10,000  annually  is  made,  and  in  addition  a  special  appropriation 
of  $25,000  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  an  official  history  of  the 
Thirty-second  Division.  This  commission  organized  in  mid-October, 
Gen.  Charles  King,  of  Milwaukee,  being  made  chairman  and  John 
G.  Gregory,  of  Milwaukee,  secretary.  To  it,  therefore,  the  further 
direction  of  the  war  history  drive  is  committed.  We  can  not  re- 
frain, in  concluding,  from  publicly  thanking  the  hundreds  of  in- 
dividuals, some  of  whose  names  appear  below,  for  the  unpaid  and 
public-spirited  cooperation  they  afforded,  and  in  large  part  are  still 
affording,  the  war  history  committee  (henceforth  the  new  war  his- 
tory commission)  in  securing  the  contemporary  records  of  Wiscon- 
sin's part  in  the  World  War.  A  most  gratifying  spectacle  of  popular 
participation  on  an  extensive  scale  in  the  altruistic  work  of  saving 
our  historical  records  for  the  instruction  and  benefit  of  posterity  has 
been  afforded.  The  report  of  Mr.  Barton  upon  the  status  of  the  work, 
when  he  laid  it  down,  follows : 

The  war  history  work  may  be  said  to  be  in  a  satisfactory  condition  in  the 
great  majority  of  counties.  While  a  number  of  counties  have  reported  that 
they  have  nearly  completed  their  records,  none  have  entirely  ceased  work  and 
the  greater  number  are  still  some  distance  from  their  goal.  This  is  due  largely 
to  the  fact  that  many  of  the  State's  troops  have  but  recently  returned  or  are 
still  abroad. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  in  most  of  the  counties  having  the  larger  cities, 
such  as  Superior,  Racine,  Sheboygan,  Fond  du  Lac,  Kenosha,  Green  Bay, 
La  Crosse,  Janesville,  Appleton,  Eau  Claire,  Manitowoc,  and  Stevens  Point, 
the  work  fell  into  capable  and  interested  hands.  In  all  these  counties  excellent 
results  have  been  obtained.  Perhaps  the  larger  counties  with  the  best  records 
are  Sheboygan,  Fond  du  Lac,  Eau  Claire,  Outagamie,  Racine,  Kenosha,  and 
Brown ;  among  the  smaller  Adams,  Clark,  Waukesha,  Taylor,  Dunn,  Crawford, 
Waushara,  and  Green  Lake  show  the  best  reports.  In  the  two  largest 
counties,  Milwaukee  and  Winnebago,  the  progress  has  been  less;  however,  in 
both  these  counties  the  war  mothers  have  come  forward  with  substantial  aid 
of  much  promise.  A  half  dozen  counties  have  little  to  show  as  yet.  Among 
these  are  Juneau,  Dodge,  Iowa,  Oconto,  and  Waupaca.  Juneau  and  Iowa  will 
probably  receive  good  attention  soon.  Some  county  councils  of  defense  made 
appropriations  for  the  history  work;  others  gave  neither  funds  nor  encourage- 
ment. The  correspondence  files  will  give  further  light  on  the  status  of  the 
individual  counties. 

In  a  number  of  counties  war  histories  and  albums  are  in  course  of  publica- 
tion, chiefly  by  outside  concerns.  Among  such  counties  may  be  mentioned 
Brown,  Columbia,  Burnett,  Dunn,  Door,  Iowa,  Crawford,  Polk,  Rusk,  St.  Croix, 
Oneida,  Marquette,  Waushara,  and  Green  Lake.  It  is  also  probable  that  his- 
tories will  be  written  by  local  historians  in  the  counties  of  Kenosha,  Green, 


292  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Racine,  Lafayette,  Trempealeau,  and  Ozaukee.  The  historians,  acting  or 
prospective,  are:  Brown,  Chicago  publishers;  Door,  H.  R.  Holand,  Ephraim; 
Columbia,  J.  E.  Jones,  former  editor,  Portage;  Marquette,  C.  H.  Barry,  editor, 
Montello;  Waushara  and  Green  Lake,  R.  S.  Starks,  editor,  Berlin;  Crawford, 
Lyman  Howe,  editor,  Prairie  du  Chien ;  Polk,  editor,  Luck  Enterprise,  Luck; 
Rusk,  D.  W.  Maloney,  editor,  Ladysmith;  Burnett,  E.  Huth,  editor,  Grantsburg; 
Iowa,  Granville  Trace,  editor,  Dodgeville;  St.  Croix,  F.  A.  R.  Van  Meter, 
editor,  New  Richmond;  Dunn,  M.  C.  Douglass,  editor,  Menomonie;  Kenosha, 
Miss  Cathie  McNamara,  Kenosha;  Racine,  E.  W.  Leach,  Racine;  Green,  C.  H. 
Dietz,  teacher,  Monroe;  Lafayette,  P.  H.  Conley,  Darlington;  Trempealeau, 
Judge  H.  A.  Anderson,  Whitehall ;  Ozaukee,  Rev.  T.  A.  Boerner,  Port  Washing- 
ton, Oneida. 

Your  retiring  director  visited  50  of  the  71  counties  and  met  the  chairman  of 
a  number  of  others.  The  counties  not  visited  were  chiefly  those  in  the  far 
northern  part  of  the  State  or  such  as  seemed  so  well  organized  as  to  need  less 
attention. 

Several  hundred  pictures  have  been  received  from  a  number  of  counties,  in- 
cluding Washington,  Sauk,  Dane,  Trempealeau,  Milwaukee,  Jefferson,  Dunn,  Eau 
Claire,  and  Green;  more  are  promised  from  other  counties.  These  should  be 
filed.  Final  reports  from  several  State  activities  have  been  received,  including 
council  of  defense,  fuel  administration,  county  agents,  physicians,  naval  enlist- 
ments for  the  State,  etc. 

In  a  number  of  counties  the  war  mothers  have  enlisted  to  collect  the  military 
biographies,  letters,  and  pictures;  they  are  now  at  work  in  Dane,  Milwaukee, 
Winnebago,  Langlade,  Jefferson,  Polk,  and  perhaps  other  counties. 

WYOMING. 
By  Dorothy  Hale,  Assistant  State  Historian. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Wyoming  Historical  Department  was  not  created 
until  February,  1919,  and  the  State  historian  did  not  take  up  her 
activities  until  March  of  that  year,  there  are  not  many  of  the  points 
as  outlined  in  which  the  department  took  active  part.  During  the 
past  year  a  history  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Field  Artillery  Brigade  was 
published  and  a  copy  of  the  same  donated  to  the  files  of  the  depart- 
ment. The  One  hundred  and  forty -eighth  Field  Artillery  was  a  part 
of  this  brigade  and  the  artillery  was  partly  made  up  of  the  Third 
Wyoming  Infantry.  Thus  it  records  the  war  history  of  many 
Wyoming  men. 

The  Wyoming  Historical  Department  is  making  every  effort  pos- 
sible to  secure  the  records  of  her  men.  Prior  to  the  organization 
of  the  department  the  war  history  committee  of  the  Wyoming  State 
council  of  national  defense  began  collecting  the  war  records  of 
the  men  of  Wyoming.  A  chairman  was  appointed  in  each  county, 
who  in  turn  appointed  committeemen  for  the  various  localities.  In 
addition  to  this  the  war  history  committee  began  the  collection  of 
official  blanks,  instructions,  and  orders  relating  to  such  matters  as 
the  draft,  Liberty  loans  and  food  administration;  the  records  of 
semiofficial  or  unofficial  war  agencies;  posters,  programs,  badges, 


ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WORLD  WAR.  293 

etc.;  all  pamphlets  issued  by  national,  State,  and  local  agencies  to 
disseminate  general  information;  local  military  statistics,  such  as 
muster  rolls,  draft  records,  etc.;  photographic  material  illustrating 
war  activities;  price  lists,  advertisements,  or  any  other  material 
throwing  light  on  the  economic  or  industrial  effects  of  the  war; 
data  showing  the  changes  of  our  educational  programs  and  institu- 
tions to  meet  the  emergency ;  records  of  honor  families  having  three, 
four,  or  five  sons  in  the  war ;  record  lists  of  Wyoming  men  who  were 
decorated  or  commended  for  bravery ;  records  of  Wyoming  men  and 
women  who  served  with  the  Red  Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  or  other  war 
relief  agencies;  newspapers  files,  letters,  and  diaries  of  soldiers  and 
sailors  or  of  war  workers;  all  correspondence  of  war  relief  socie- 
ties; and  relics  which  can  be  displayed  in  war  museums.  It  de- 
sired also  to  secure  a  complete  and  detailed  history  of  each  county's 
participation  in  each  of  the  war's  activities. 

Upon  its  organization  the  historical  department  took  over  this 
work.  At  the  present  time  it  has  nearly  completed  an  alphabetical 
card  index,  by  counties,  of  the  13,000  men  who  served  in  the  late  war. 
Plans  are  underway  to  make  a  complete  alphabetical  record  of  the 
men  and  a  record  of  all  casualties.  The  records  now  on  file  are  not 
as  complete  and  as  accurate  as  desired,  but  until  funds  are  appro- 
priated which  will  enable  more  clerical  aid  and  permit  us  to  get  into 
closer  touch  with  the  counties  this  cannot  be  accomplished.  The 
State  library  has  a  complete  file  of  the  Trench  and  Camp,  the  publi- 
cation at  Camp  Lewis,  the  cantonment  to  which  the  Wyoming 
drafted  men  were  sent. 

No  definite  steps  have  been  taken  to  prepare  a  history  other  than 
to  gather  the  material  above  mentioned  and  obtain  the  pictures  of 
the  men  and  the  Wyoming  organizations  in  the  late  war. 

In  the  report  of  the  publicity  department  of  the  State  council  for 
national  defense,  the  following  statement  is  made : 

Weekly  news  letters  were  sent  to  the  75  State  newspapers  and  40  to  publicity 
departments  of  other  State  councils  and  offices  at  Washington.  Stories  were 
sent  out  urging  war  gardens  and  extensive  publicity  was  given  on  all  drives 
and  organization  activities  with  gratifying  results.  The  report  closes  in  saying : 
"  Without  the  publicity  which  the  press  has  generously  given  to  all  the  depart- 
ments of  war  work,  the  wonderful  results  which  Wyoming  has  achieved  would 
not  have  been  possible." 

Throughout  the  work  of  the  Four-Minute  Men  splendid  coopera- 
tion was  received  from  the  Wyoming  State  Council  for  National  De- 
fense and  the  expenses  of  the  State  Director's  office  were  handled  by 
them.  At  no  time  did  the  State  have  less  than  22  chairmen  and  the 
maximum  number  was  27,  while  200  men  lent  their  aid  in  making 
addresses. 


V 


_■ 


MWi\ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

940.9131 9M54A  C001 

AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ACTIVITIES  DURING  TH 


3  0112  025355048 


